Durin's Nights
by Kassandra85
Summary: Thorin, king under the mountain, needs a queen to secure the line of Durin after his nephew's deaths. But his heart is buried beneath his madness and his dark emotions. Only One will be able to reach him in the dark. One light will reach him, while all other lights - go out. The Hobbit AU, post BoFa. Thorin/fem. Bilbo.
1. Chapter 1

The Lonely Mountain Erebor rose high and wide over the northern realm of Middle Earth. A decade ago the mountain had been reclaimed by its former inhabitants, the dwarves of Durins Folk. They had lost the mountain to a dragon a century and a half before, but thirteen dwarves, a wizard and one hobbit, under the command of their fierce leader, the prince of Durins Folk, had crossed all of Middle Earth to slay the dragon and reclaim their home. With the support of the men of Laketown the company had reached the mountain, awaken the dragon and the bowman of Laketown had slain him with a black arrow. A deadly weapon forged by the dwarves of old. The dwarf prince was crowned king under the mountain and the dwarves of Durins Folk returned to their home. Erebor once again became one of the most powerful kingdoms of Middle Earth and Thorin Oakenshield, the former prince, had become one of the most powerful kings.

But like many of Middle Earths great kings, he had one big weakness. He had succumbed to the goldsickness, a curse laid upon his line since the arkenstone, the heart of the mountain, had been found over two hundred years ago. The greedy dwarves had ripped the mountains heart out and the shining stone made them pay for the sacriledge. The line of Durin had become goldsick and soon, nothing more than gold found the way to their hearts. The gold corrupted every king since Thorins grandfather Thror and Thorin had become mad because of the gold as soon as he had reclaimed the Lonely Mountain with his company of loyal dwarves. In his madness he had begun to doubt the loyalty of his kin, he had almost lost his newly reclaimed kingdom and only the courageous action of his former burglar had prevented a war between the dwarves, elves and men. The burglar, a hobbit named Basil Baggins, had taken the arkenstone, in futile hope that it would no longer corrupt the heart of her king as soon as it was out of the mountain and had given it to Bard, the bowman who had slain the dragon. She had saved the company of dwarves that day, but he had lost Thorins trust and maybe even more.

During the quest, the dwarf prince had fallen in love with the hobbit. Although he had fought his feelings in the beginning, he could not deny them for long. Basil had loved him as well and only her love for him had made her steal the arkenstone from under his nose to give it away to the men and elves. She had wanted to force him to reconsider his situation and she had wanted to prevent war. In the end, she had not been successful. Thorin had banished her out of his kingdom and his heart.

Moments after the mad king had sealed his fate by destroying any chance of love and happiness at the side of the hobbit, an old enemy of the dwarven king, a pale orc named Azog, had attacked the mountain, forcing the dwarves, elves and men to unite. Basil fled the mountain after a costly battle, she returned to the Shire with Gandalf, banished and heartbroken, with nothing but her memory of Thorins hatred for her.

#

Now that the kingdom was restored Thorin had to secure his line. He had lost his sister sons during the battle against the orcs, they had fallen defending him. Their death pained him deeply and in his grief and guilt he was even more open to the power of the arkenstone. Now, without an heir, Thorins line would end with him. His sister Dis had never forgiven him for the death of her sons and did not return to Erebor.

Princesses and ladies were sent to Erebor as suitable wives for the king, but soon, his madness showed openly and many did not dare to send their daughters, sisters and nieces anymore. A few kings and lords still tried to send Thorin their daughters, hoping that they would cure the king from his madness with their love, but none managed to fight the power of the arkenstone. Thorin married two dwarven women, but killed them after merely one night. None of the two brides had survived the wedding night. Two dwarven queens died under the mountain and the kingdom of Erebor got isolated from the rest of the world.

The White Council of Middle Earth looked upon the northern kingdom with worry. Erebor needed to stay strong under the rule of the line of Durin for Middle Earth to stay peaceful and stable. Therefore, Thorin needed an heir and first of all he needed to be cured. Gandalf, who had accompanied the dwarves on their journey to reclaim the mountain, knew in his heart that Thorin was a good and honorable dwarf and he did not deserve to leave this world as a dwarf fallen to madness. The people of Middle Earth should remember Thorin as the dwarf who had reclaimed his home from a dragon and not as a goldsick king. Of course, Gandalf already had somebody in mind who could cure the mad king and give him the long awaited heir. As he told lady Galadriel, the head of the council, of whom he was thinking, the white lady smiled faintly and nodded. Even the smallest could change the fate of Middle Earth.

#

The wizard traveled to Erebor one year later, together with the hobbit who had been on the quest to Erebor with them. The hobbit was smaller than a dwarf, gentle and soft, beautiful and intelligent. Her golden curls had fallen over her ears in curls during the quest to Erebor, but after her banishment, Basil had adapted a dwarven habbit and had cut them in shame and grief. She grieved for Thorin's nephews who had been very dear to her. She grieved for her lost love and his cursed soul. She had never grieved for his own fate. Today, Basil Baggins curls barely covered her pointed ears, but that did not tamper with her beauty. Her soft green eyes shimmered in her face and warmed everyone on whose face her gaze fell. Gandalf hoped that those eyes would remind Thorin of what he had lost or better of whom he had lost. The king should be reminded of the things worth fighting for in life.

#

'She betrayed me. They all betrayed me.' Thorin growled and threw his goblet against the nearest wall. His old advisor Balin winced at the king's outburst and closed his eyes in defeat.

'There are no honorable females, Balin.' Thorin sighed and sat down in his armchair by the fire. 'Females are weak and illoyal.'

The two queens had been charged with treason, for reasons unknown to Thorin's subjects. But the king's order was to be followed and so the wives had been executed.

'They only want the gold. And they want the arkenstone for themselves. I can see it in their eyes.' Thorin stood up and began pacing again. 'Loyalty, honor, a willing heart. Why can I not find that in a female, Balin? Even my own sister turned her back on me.'

'You have not found the right one, yet, my king.' Balin answered diplomatically. 'Sometimes a heart must first be broken to add a better half.'

'There is no such dwarf for me, old friend. It is futile.' Thorin looked lost and sad for once. For a moment this sadness banished the mad gleam in his eyes, but this moment vanished quickly. Balin began to lose all hope.

#

'All of this happens because of what I did, Gandalf.' Basil rode on her pony beside the wizard's horse. 'These dwarves died because of what I did. They reminded him of my betrayal. Thorin lost his mind, the arkenstone is corrupting him. I was too weak to stop it back then, but I will not make the same mistake again.'

'The king has banished you from Erebor.' Gandalf sighed. He hoped that Thorin would not kill the hobbit as soon as she entered his kingdom and would hear them out. He had traveled back to the Shire in haste, only to find Basil sitting on the bench in front of Bag End, staring into the distance in silence. Basil had stolen the arkenstone, yes, but she had done it to save her king. The king she had begun to love during their long journey. Thorin had loved her back, but before any of them could act on their love the arkenstone had changed their fate. Gandalf was determined to fight fate and the arkenstone together with Basil, for Thorin.

'He is a good dwarf, Gandalf.' Basil whispered. 'I should not have left. I should have fought more for him.'

'You fought for him in battle, my dear hobbit. You fought for his sanity longer than anyone could have asked from you.' Gandalf frowned.

'But I did not fight long enough for me.' Basil stated bitterly. 'I loved him Gandalf. And I love him still. How can I turn my back on him now? It was a mistake to return to the Shire.'

'He might kill you when you enter Erebor despite of your banishment.' Gandalf told him quietly.

'Then that will be my fate.' Basil whispered and looked ahead, where the top of the mountain came in sight.


	2. Chapter 2

'Master Gandalf!' Dori, the oldest of the brothers Ri greeted the grey wizard at the gates of Erebor. While Nori had taken over the intelligence under the mountain, Dori had taken over diplomatical duties and his youngest brother Ori had become the head scribe of the kingdom. 'It has been too long!'

'Indeed, master Dori!' Gandalf smiled weakly. 'May I ask for a cup of chamomile tea? We need to discuss something.'

'Of course!' Dori frowned at the wizard's worried expression. Something was wrong. His king always said that Gandalf's appearance always ended in trouble. Maybe he was right.

#

'I am surrounded by lunatics!' Balin, son of Fundin, advisor to the king of Erebor exclaimed in despair. He looked at Gandalf and Dori with wide eyes. 'Have you brought the halfling to bring her to her deathbed for good? Thorin is not the dwarf he was anymore. He was strong, but the curse was stronger. Nobody can defeat the curse, Gandalf! Not even you, not even the dearest mistress Baggins.'

'She is determined to try.' Gandalf muttered. He knew how Balin felt, for he felt the same way, but Basil firmly stood with her belief that she could save Thorin's soul and she would try even without their help. 'You know her, Balin. If she wants to achieve something, she will do so or die trying.'

Balin let out a long and heavy sigh. 'Fine. But I know that we will all regret this. We have stood by and watched as Thorin banished our burglar. I guess we owe her.'

'Indeed, you owe me, master Balin.' Basil's voice whispered out of nowhere.

Dori looked around in fear and Balin took a step back. Gandalf shook his head in despair. 'You could have waited.' he stated and looked in front of him. A mere instant later Basil appeared out of thin air and made both Dori and Balin jump.

'What is this? What kind of magic is it?' Dori stepped back from Gandalf and Basil.

'Do not be foolish, master Dori.' Gandalf scolded the oldest Ri. 'Our burglar should tell you that herself.'

Basil sat down at the fireplace, smiling softly at her old friends.

'Do you remember our escape from the goblin tunnels shortly before we ran into Azog? That dreadful day on the cliffs, where we were rescued by the eagles? That day I found something in the goblin tunnels. A ring. A golden ring. I stole it from the creature Gollum, who was living in the deep below Goblin town. This creature has a poisoned mind and a malicious character. He played me in a wicked ridle, my stake being my life. I won the game and he had promised me to show me out of this dark world full of goblin cries and shrieks. But he did not, instead he attacked me and I slipped the ring onto my finger as I fell to the ground. And then I disappeared. That ring made me invisible to the world of the living. This way I could escape. I escaped with the help of the ring in Goblin town and then again in Mirkwood. I slaughtered orcs in battle with the help of this ring. It was not me or my intelligence that brought us out of these perils, it was this tiny little ring. And today it brought me into the Lonely Mountain. Back to where I have to be.'

It took Balin some time to speak again, it was so much new information. But maybe this ring could save Basil when things went wrong.

'I do not know how he will react to this.' Balin shook his head. Everyone knew who he was talking about. 'If he threatenes to kill you, you could still use the ring and...'

'No. I will stay at his side and cure him, or I will die trying.' Basil stated determinately. 'This ring has done enough.'

'Very well.' Balin looked at Dori. He had a plan.

#

Basil did not recognise herself in the mirror at her wedding day. She was wearing a beautiful and pompous white dress and a thick white veil. Her shorter golden locks fell over her ears freely and thick golden bands were laying around her neck. Her golden ring was under the care of the White Council now. She had been told that his ring was the long lost One ring of the dark lord Sauron, who had tried to enslave all of Middle Earth in the First Age. Galadriel, the only one who could resist the ring, kept it in custody and it would be destroyed soon. Basil had felt strange to give it away in the first place, but as it was gone a feeling of relief had rushed through her body. This ring had not been good for her and Basil had been strong enough to part from it. With one last glance into the mirror, Basil left the bridal rooms. Dori and Balin accompanied her on her way to her husband to be, the mad king under the mountain. To Thorin.

Gandalf, Dori and Balin had told nobody that the halfling was back in Erebor. They had told Thorin that his new bride was from the south of Middle Earth and the king had accepted without asking. He did not care whom to marry, for his heart was unable to love anything but the gold. He trusted his advisors and his friends and Balin hoped that this would not backfire on them.

The wedding would take place in the throne room and only the council of Erebor would be witness to it. Weddings were no joyous occasions under the mountain anymore. Nobody even cared about the new bride's life, for the dwarves of Erebor had lost all hope to save the sanity of their king. Basil was grateful for the veil, which would cover her face until she would stand before the king. Balin hoped that Thorin would have enough restraint left to not kill the hobbit in front of the whole council at his own wedding, even when he found out who she was.

Gandalf and Dori had tears in their eyes as they laid eyes on Basil. The hobbit lass looked beautiful, if not for the sad look in her eyes. They all had hoped that Thorins and Basil's wedding would have been an union of love, peace and friendship. But now it was the last desperate measure to save all their lives, their consciences and their souls.

Basil walked down the aisle to the throne, her eyes set on the king who stood before his throne with his back to her. Thorin was looking at the arkenstone which had been placed above the throne for everyone to see. He was still tall and had a proud bearing. His hair was still mostly black and fell over his back in soft curls. And he was wearing Orcrist. Basil saw Dwalin stand at his side as the captain of his personal guard and Ori was to his left to write down this wedding for the dwarven history books. All dwarves of the company were there, all safe Fili and Kili. Tears fell down Basil's face as she remembered Thorin's nephews. Two young dwarves full of life and energy. Good hearted and honorable dwarves, who had died on their uncle's quest. Oh, how she missed them. Maybe, if they would still be in the world of the living, Thorin would not have sunken so deep.

Basil took one step at a time until she stood beside Thorin. On their quest the dwarf´s body heat had always warmed her, as well as the warm gleam of his eyes. But now neither his body, nor his eyes radiated any warmth. The halfling waited silently until Gandalf begann to speak. The wizard would perform the wedding ceremony and Basil felt a slight feeling of safety as she stood before him. As Gandalf spoke, Thorin's attention switched to the present. He looked at his bride and Basil could see him frown. It was obvious to Thorin that the new bride was a halfling, due to the small frame and the bare feet, but the face was still hidden behind the veil. But Thorin did not wait for the ritual words to be spoken. He walked close towards his bride and lifted the veil. A gasp went through the dwarves of the company and Balin and Dori held their breaths. Thorin's hands had frozen in midmotion and his face had turned to stone. His eyes went from cold to ice and Basil suddenly felt the cold creep into her very soul.

'Thorin.' a whisper left Basil's mouth and reached the king. Her love. Thorin.

'You.' the king's voice was a faint and hoarse whisper. 'You came back.'

Basil lowered her gaze. Thorin was angry, his voice shivered with fury and his eyes started gleaming dangerously. But there was also hurt and sorrow in his eyes for a short moment, a moment which awaken hope in Basil's heart. Before the former burglar could say something, Thorin bellowed for Balin.

'Did you know of this?' he asked his closest advisor, who nodded. 'Then, I see that you have all turned against me.'

'Thorin, you need somebody at your side. Basil volunteered.' Balin tried to explain.

'The last time our burglar volunteered for something it did not end very well.' Thorin muttered under his breath. He looked from Balin to Basil and ripped the veil of the hobbit's face. 'Why did you come back?'

Basil remembered the day when he had asked her the same question. It had been after they had escaped from Goblin Town. Back then, she had an answer ready for him. Today, she knew not what to say - she could not tell him that she still loved him in front of the entire court and she was sure that Thorin would not understand the sincerity of her words.

'I came, because the king of Erebor is in search for a bride.' Basil lied. 'Please see me as a tribute from the Shire. A tribute honoring your strong and just reign. Even though I may just be a halfling, I am sure that I can be the queen you need in Erebor.'

'So, the Shire sends me a burglar and a thief as a queen? I´d rather see it as an insult.' Thorin growled.

Basil felt her Tookish side rumble inside of her. She decided to trust her gut feeling, she had nothing to lose. Nothing but her life.

'I was banished from Erebor, my king. I am aware that the punishment for the violation of this banishment is death. But as I see it, becoming your queen already is a death sentence.'

The entire throne room held their breaths at her answer and Gandalf closed his eyes in defeat. Thorin looked at Basil in surprise and did not move. Then he tilted his head and a hint of a smile appeared on his face. But his blue eyes remained icy.

'Continue, wizard.' Thorin adressed Gandalf. 'My people expect a wedding.'

Gandalf looked at the king in surprise, but he quickly regained control and spoke the ritual words for the dwarven wedding. Balin and Dori exchanged uneasy glances and the atmosphere inside the throne room was as icy as the look in the king's eyes. Ori did not dare to breathe and even Dwalin felt an icy shiver run down his spine. Moments later, Erebor had a king and a queen. The dwarves of all seven kingdoms began placing bets for how long the new queen would stay at the side of the mad king before he killed her, like all of his wives before.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again! Thank you so much for reading, reviewing and following! As you can see, I am back with another dark fic, which will eventually end up as a happy end (of course) :) I own nothing, except fem. Bilbo. Enjoy and feel free to review anything what might cross your minds! Thank you! **

There was no feast, no celebration on that wedding day. After the ceremony had been held, the dwarves of the council walked out the throne room with heavy hearts. The hobbit lass had looked beautiful in the long white dress and her golden hair. It had been braided with thin golden ribbons had brought something close to sunshine into the dark of Erebor. But they knew that their king was blind to all beauty except to his gold.

Only the dwarves of the company stayed and stared at their king and Basil, now their queen. All of them had hoped for this day to come, but not this way. Never this way.

Basil felt cold shivers run down her spine as she walked to the royal chambers at Thorin's side. The king had not looked at her since the wedding and they had not spoken a word. She glanced at Thorin from the corner of her eye. He was still broad and strong, his bearing was still as proud as before, but his eyes were dead. The beautiful blue eyes Basil had loved so much were dull and clouded. His grip on her was firm, but not hurting. As the doors opened, Basil stepped into their rooms for the second time in two years. Thorin's rooms had not changed. They were still spartanic and cold. The only furniture was the huge bed in the middle and a dark closet in the back. A small desk and a chair stood by the fire, as well as one single armchair. Basil remembered that she had sat in this armchair after Smaug had fled the mountain. She had sat there and had waited for Thorin to return to her, but he had not. Thorin had not left the treasury for days, he did not drink, nor eat and he did not speak to anyone. Even the roaring fire in the fireplace could not warm Basil back then, the coldness in her heart and the fear for Thorin had made her shiver. Her furry feet had not been warm for days and they had stung as Basil had made her way to the treasury. She had known what Thorin was looking for. The arkenstone. The cursed stone had lain in Basil's pocket, pressed to her body. The hobbit had taken the stone during her quarrel with Smaug, but she had never given it back to Thorin. The mad gleam in his eyes had prevented her from doing so. Today Basil felt remorse for not giving the stone to Thorin immediately and cursed her stupidity. By giving the stone to the men and elves, Basil had lost Thorin. She had lost his trust, his friendship and most important, his love. She would fight to regain it or fade into darkness together with Thorin. And she would not fight if Thorin decided to kill her this time.

Neither the dwarves of Erebor, nor Gandalf, nor Basil knew that it had indeed been the arkenstone that had ruined Thorin's marriages and had driven him into killing his wives. It had been the arkenstone which had corrupted the minds of the dwarven brides in a mere blink of an eye and had turned them against their newly wedded husband and king. Thorin's first wife had tried to stab him in his sleep and his second wife had tried to strangle him. The king had had no choice but charge them with treason and attempted murder of the king and they had been executed. The Valar knew that even in his madness he had acted as the law commanded. Only Thorin himself knew the truth, but in his feeling of guilt and his grief he accepted the reputation as a mad king. In his heart he knew hat he was mad. Mad like his grandfather.

Now, he looked upon Basil's beautiful and innocent face and was afraid. He was afraid that he would kill his burglar. He was afraid that she would betray him again. A part of him had banished her to keep her safe from him and she had walked right back into his arms. Volunterily. But would she betray him? Again?

#

The dark of night fell over the Lonely Mountain shortly after Thorin's and Basil's wedding. The people of the dwarven kingdom, as well as the kingdoms surrounding the mountain fell silent and tense, waiting to hear from the next dead queen at the mountain king's side.

The elven queen Galadriel looked into her mirror in worry. Although she was powerful and wise she could not see everything in the mirror. It showed her things that were, things that are and some thing that had not yet come to pass. Her perfect forehead wrinkled as she frowned at the things she saw.

Basil's hands shivered as she put on her golden nightgown. It was a delicate fabric, sewn out of thin golden and mithril yarn. It showed more of her body than it hid from it, but Basil let it slide over her shoulders and onto her tiny and firm body. She had gained weight again after the quest and her muscles had disappeared. Her curves were soft and lush and Basil hoped that Thorin would be pleased if he saw her tonight. Thorin was a battlehardened warrior and Basil had always felt his hard muscles through his clothes when she had touched him during their quest. Sometimes her eyes had wandered over his body when he had not looked. She loved Thorin's broad shoulders, his strong arms and his massive chest. The dwarf king was so unlike a hobbit and Basil had never felt about anyone like she felt for Thorin. Every inch of her body longed for him and her soul called out for him.

This was their wedding night. Her's and Thorin's. Basil had imagined this moment often enough during their quest, but never like this. Thorin had captured her lips in a passionate kiss from time to time and his hands had roamed over her body hungrily, but more had never happened between them. The presence of the other dwarves and Thorin's respect of Basil's honor had kept them from going any further. Now, in their actual wedding night it felt wrong. Basil loved Thorin, but her love for him was clouded by his goldsickness. Suddenly, Basil paled and had to sit down. What if Thorin did not love her anymore? He had married twice before Basil. What if she had thrown his love away with the theft of the arkenstone? The arkenstone. The cursed stone had sung to her during the wedding ceremony and had tried to tempt her with its shine. But Basil hated the stone. She had closed her mind against it's beauty and had ignored it. Unknown to her, the first step had been taken.

Thorin paced in his chambers, waiting for Basil to come out of the dressing room. Alone with his thoughts, the king had to admit that he was nervous and anxious. During the quest he had only barely contained his need for his burglar and he had hoped for this night for a long time. But now he felt unsure. Basil was his wife now, but did he even have the right to claim her after all that had happened? Would she trust him enough for this night? Would he see the same fear he saw as he had grabbed her and banished her from this mountain? Basil's fearful gaze haunted him at night. Her green eyes had looked upon him pleadingly and she had not let him go. He had not listened to her either. Traitor, thief, liar...a quiet voice in Thorin's head made him remember why he had banished Basil in the first place. He could not trust her.

Thorin stood at the fire place, one hand braced against the wall and staring into the flames as Basil entered their bedroom. The servants had tried to give the room a warm and comforting atmosphere by replacing the linen sheets with green silken ones and by putting in some more furniture. Balin had insisted on doing this and Thorin had not stopped him. The king did not care about his rooms, he did not spend much time in them anyway. Long green drapes hung over the heavy balks of the huge canopy bed and candles enlightened the room in addition to the fire. A drawing of Thorin's family hung on the wall over the fireplace and the eyes of Thror, Thrain, Thorin's mother and Thorin, his brother Frerin and Dis looked back at everyone who took a look at the royal Durin family. Basil looked at the drawing and felt sad. It must had been painted before Smaug had come, for all of them were smiling and were looking carefree and happy. Even Thorin did not frown. Basil looked at Dis, the mother of Fili and Kili, and her heart wrenched painfully in her chest. Fili has looked a lot like his mother, but Kili had had her warm brown eyes. Frerin had looked like a younger version of Thorin, also with black hair and stunning blue eyes. Mischief was gleaming in the two younger Durin's eyes. Thorin had already been stern, it was quite visible that he was the oldest with the higher responsibility. Sometimes Basil felt sad for Thorin, for he had never been allowed to live just for himself. Always had he been a crown prince, a leader and an older, more responsible sibbling.

Basil's ability to move nearly without making any noise paid out yet again. She managed to walk right up to Thorin without him noticing. The king wore a simple tunic and trousers that night. The fabric of his tunic was light and thin and Basil could see his muscles dance under the tunic as he shifted. Taking a deep breath, Basil moved her hand up between Thorin's shoulderblades and gently put it down. Although her touch had been soft, Thorin jumped and swirled around in an alarmed state. Basil could see his right hand move to his shoulder, where Orcrist was usually hanging over his back and winced. He had left his armor and his weapon in the dressing room, neatly put away in a wodden chest, she had seen so himself. But Thorin would be able to kill her with his bare hands. She was so petite and Thorin was so...strong. Basil fought the memory of Thorin's callous hands on her throat and his sword against her chest. All of this had happened a long time ago. She would not linger in the past.

The king felt heavy sorrow as he saw Basil slightly jerk back from him as he turned around. She had every reason to be afraid of him and she probably thought that he would kill her for coming back despite the banishment. But he would not. He could not. Thorin looked down at his newly wedded queen and frowned. She was even more beautiful than he remembered, but her hair...

'You cut your hair?' Thorin asked hoarsely and fought the urge to move his hand through Basil's shorter curls. 'Why did you do this?'

'You know what cutting one's hair means in the dwarven society.' Basil answered evasively and looked down at her hairy feet. Thorin's intense glare made her blush and shiver.

'You are no dwarf.' Thorin stated calmly and managed to banish all allegation from his voice.

'I am the queen now.' Basil said and looked up again. 'I am the queen of the dwarves and I will share their customs and their way of life.'

Let's see for how long this queen will last. Thorin shook his head to get rid of the torturing voices in his mind.

'Dwarves cut their hair out of shame.' Thorin told Basil and walked around her. 'What are you ashamed off if I may ask?'

'I feel ashamed for having fled as Erebor was reclaimed.' Basil felt her Tookish side grow strong. 'I feel ashamed that I left you all behind. And I feel ashamed that I let your madness seperate us.'

Thorin's expression grew thunderous. 'What about the arkenstone? You stole it. Do you feel no shame over that?'

'No.' Basil did not know if that answer was wise. 'I feel no shame for wanting to save you.'

Thorin clenched his fists at his sides. This sweet tongued burglar will try to steal it again. You cannot trust her. She is like your other wives, greedy and illoyal. She would never love you. Only the power you wield. The voice tortured Thorin every single moment of every day, even when he tried to ignore it. But with Basil it was different. Thorin was torn between listening to this voice in his head or his heart. This was Basil, sweet, honest and beautiful Basil. She would not betray him again. Would she?

'You stole from me and you came back to Erebor altough I banished you.' Thorin spoke, but it was as if it was a stranger's voice. He did not want to threaten Basil, but nevertheless he uttered the words. 'Tell me, why should I not kill you right now?'

Basil swallowed hard and looked up into Thorins hard eyes. She could see Thorin struggle and decided to buy herself some time. 'This is not you, Thorin. The Thorin I know would never kill an innocent person.'

Basil winced as she thought of the two queens who had already died under the mountain. But she believed in what she said, she did not believe that Thorin murdered them. It was simp impossible, she knew it in her heart. But Thorin struggled against his madness and Basil would not be able to cure him overnight. If she would be able to ever cure him. The mad gleam had returned to Thorin's eyes in this very moment and Basil felt scared. It was not the first time that Thorin scared her, but it was different this time. This time they were alone. Alone in their bedroom. Thorin forced Basil to move backwards to the bed. With dark eyes he walked towards the hobbit until Basil felt the bed against the back of her knees. But Thorin did not back away, on the contrary. The mad king towered Basil and his hands moved to the hobbit's throat, but instead of grabbing it like last time, he simply pressed his flat hands against Basil's collarbones and pushed. Basil landed on the bed with a yelp and crawled back against the headboard. Thorin let out a growl and sat down on the foot of the bed, watching Basil as if the hobbit was his prey.

'You are so sure of yourself, burglar.' Thorin growled. 'And yet, you recoil from me, you are afraid of me.'

'Of course.' Basil whispered. 'You scare me, Thorin. You hurt me already and I am not sure wether you will hurt me again. But I am even more afraid for you. I worry about you.'

'I tried to kill you and threaten to kill you again and yet, you worry about me?' Thorin frowned deeply. 'Why?'

Basil took a deep breath and looked down at her hands. They were alone now and she had to say it out loud.

'Because I love you.' the hobbit whispered and met the king's gaze.


	4. Chapter 4

'Why?' Basil almost had to laugh about the unromantic retort. Thorin was still frowning, but he seemed unsure for the first time.

'You are strong, brave, loyal, honest and...you have honor. You have a good heart and you have sacrificed your own life for your people. Now it should be your turn.' Basil relaxed and slowly crawled towards Thorin. 'You have sacrified enough. I will sacrifice myself for you...tonight and in all the nights and days to come.'

Thorin felt his heart skip a beat. The dark voice in his head had become quiet and his heart called out for Basil. He looked at the hobbit, who sat at the head of his...their...bed and looked simply gorgeous. He wanted to ravish his hobbit, move his big hands through the golden curls and press his lips against the soft skin. But as he was about to reach out for Basil, the voice of madness grew louder.

The golden queen...she will betray you. She does not love you, nobody can love a mad king. She fears you, look into her eyes. She fears you, she does not love you. She only wants the arkenstone. The arkenstone...she already stole it once. She distracted you with her soft eyes and golden hair. She seduced you with her body and the treacherous promise for more. She will betray you...again.

Thorin's hand reached out for the hobbit's face and sunk down around her throat. Basil's eyes widened in fear and Thorin frowned. His hand lay losely around the hobbit's throat now, but he did not apply any pressure. While the voice in his head told him to choke the traitor to death, his heart told him to spare the hobbit's life. His queen's life. So Thorin simply pushed the hobbit back against the bed and rolled over her. He leaned onto his left arm to not crush the petite hobbit under his weight and looked deep into the green eyes. Eyes as green and peaceful as the Shire, Basil's home. Thorin saw the hobbit in her hobbit hole before his mental eye, when they had met for the first time. Basil had complained about the mark in her newly painted door and had not even looked at Thorin properly. Only as Thorin started to insult the hobbit, she had focused on the dwarf king.

The hobbit under Thorin's body began to shiver. The king realised that he was still staring at Basil and withdrew his hand from the hobbit's throat. Basil feared him and she had every right to do so. Thorin had been unkind to her from the first moment they had met and he would have to regain his trust. With a sigh Thorin sat up and looked down at Basil, who breathed heavily and stared back up at him with big eyes. But not only Thorin had to regain Basil's trust, also Basil had to make Thorin trust her again. It seemed as if both would not find any sleep that night.

#

'Will you stare at me all night?' Basil asked Thorin as she was calm enough and her breathing had returned to normal. Thorin looked lost and tired, but he was still sitting at the foot of the bed.

'I will not sleep. Sleep is treacherous.' Thorin grumbled and sat back against one of the pillars of the bed.

'But I cannot sleep when you look at me.' Basil tried halfheartedly, but Thorin's icy look made her sigh in defeat. 'Alright...'

Basil knew that if she survived the night, she would have won her first victory against Thorin, no, not Thorin, the goldsickness. Both queens had died after just one night. She would not share their fate. She needed to try for time...like almost a year ago as she had taken the ring from the creature Gollum. But Thorin would not play any riddles with her. His eyes gleamed like the eyes of a wild beast, ready to strike anytime. Basil took a deep breath and went for it.

'Well then, it seems as if neither of us will get any sleep, might as well endulge in a story...' Basil started, but Thorin snorted.

'A story? What for?' Thorin snarled and sat up. 'If you think that you can make me go to sleep with a bedtime story...'

'Thorin Oakenshield, I will tell a story and I do not care wether you fall asleep or not!' Basil could not help but snap at her husband. She did not have the nerve for this, her life was at stake. This insufferable dwarf would not even let her fight for her life! 'But I assure you, you will find the story entertaining. In fact I would feel insulted if you would fall asleep.'

Basil took a deep breath and looked at Thorin who only cocked and eyebrow at the hobbit and nodded. The king sat back again and crossed his arms around his chest. And Basil started her story. She needed to be creative and she needed to awaken Thorin's interest. This would not be easy.

'Once upon a time, in a far away land, a poor dwarven merchant's boy named Kazid lived a happy and simple life. His brother, the older Azid, was on a journey north as he passed the gates of Moria. He had heard stories about this ancient dwarven city under the Misty Mountains and made up camp at the lake. Not in front of the gates, though, since the gates were guarded by a foul beast which was residing in the darkness of the lake. At night, he gazed upon the mithril engravings on Moria's gates, enlightened by the moonligt. Old elvish engravings, from the time when elves and dwarves had lived in peace and friendship. Shortly after midnight, Azid had fallen asleep and was woken by quiet voices near the gate. He peared out from behind his sleeping place behind a huge rock and saw forty dark elves walk towards the gates of Moria. Robbers and throat cutters. The robbers carried huge chests of silver and gold, for they had just ambushed a dwarven caravan on the way south. They were still bragging about their attack and laughed at the horror which had shown in their victim's faces. Azid stayed hidden behind the rock and watched the head of the robbers turn towards the gate. Melon! the robber exclaimed and the gate opened with a loud cracking and rumbling. One of the robbers played the flute, a soothing melody which seemed to lure the guardian into slumber while the robbers enterd Moria. Azid watched in amazement as the robbers disappeared with their goods and the gates closed again. Melon was the elvish word for friend...how deceitful of the dark elves to use that word as a password to an ancient dwarvish kingdom! Azid waited until the break of daylight and nearly fallen asleep again...'

Basil told the tale of Azid and Kazid in a soft and soothing voice, but at the same time she created a plot that was too exciting to even think of falling asleep. She watched Thorin relax as she spoke and sighed in relief. She would tame the beast which was Thorin. The beast he had become under the influence of the goldsickness. Basil told the tale of how Azid discovered the mine and how he had found a way to bypass the guardian and take some of the treasure for himself. Thorin, of course, caught the irony behind this story. The dwarf Azid was stealing from the dark elves. He was a thief. A thief like his queen had been. Basil saw the dark gleam in his eyes knew that she had caught his attention. At sunrise, she told Thorin that she would have to continue the story in the next evening.

'Continue!' Thorin ordered as Basil stopped.

'I will continue after sunset, my king.' Basil jerked back as Thorin towered her intimidatingly. 'You have duties, my king. The first council start shortly.'

'The sun has risen.' Thorin slowly realised that Basil had survived the first night with him.

The queen had survived. Outside of the royal chambers, the guards exchanged a look of worry. They had no heard any screaming or yelling, no cursing or begging. Maybe the hobbit queen had surrendered to her fate in silence?

'You will not leave these chambers. Never. I will tell the servants to provide you with everything you may need. If I remember correctly, hobbits eat more than they sleep. I will tell Bombur to provide you with as much food as you need. Tonight, I want to hear the end of this story.' Thorin pointed a finger at Basil and left their bed.

Basil nodded and sighed in relief. She would live, at least until tonight. Albeit confined to the royal quarters, Basil would live. That was more than her predecessors could say.

'I will be here when you come back.' Basil softly told Thorin as he passed her in his royal outfit, wearing his crown. The king looked down at his queen in a mixture of wonder and annoyance. He only nodded and slammed the door shut behind him.

Basil fell back into the mattress, her eyes heavy and her mind numb. She needed to sleep, there was no point in having first and second breakfast. She needed a clear mind for the night. She would do with only five, maybe four meals a day. Her stories were the only way to keep Thorin to listen to the maddening voices in his head. The hobbit smiled as the plan formed in her beautiful head. She would lure Thorin back to sanity, with the power of her mind and his curiosity. And maybe, he would be able to remember one day. Remember the good, the bad - remember her and the journey they had taken together.


	5. Chapter 5

'The queen is alive!' Ori was so happy that he nearly skipped into Balins office. 'She is alive! By Mahal!'

'The lass made it.' Balin sighed and wipped tears from his eyes. 'How did you get by that information?'

'Nori told me.' Ori whispered. 'He saw Bombur bring tons of food to the royal chambers. Basil must still be alive, the king never eats that much! Also, the guards told Nori that the king has not set a foot inside the treasury that night. He spend all night with...her!'

'Aye.' Balin smiled widely. 'The lass was our only hope. A hope well placed.'

The news spread inside of the mountain and soon outside of it. Erebors new queen had survived the night! People whispered in the streets of Dale. The halfling queen had managed to ensnare the mad dwarven king!

Thorin himself had not been able to concentrate during his meetings and council. His mind was taken with the lovely hobbit which was locked into their rooms. The beautiful and clever hobbit who could tell such enticing tales. He could not wait to hear the end of the story. He could not wait to return to her. The storyteller with the soft green eyes, the flush body, the heartshaped mouth and the golden curls. Gold! Without a word, Thorin turned his back to his council and walked down to the treasury.

Balin shook his head in disappointment. Apparently, even the former burglar could not keep Thorin from his gold. But this was just the beginning and Erebor had not been built over night. He would watch his king, as well as his queen. Balin felt tired. He was too old for this.

#

Dwalin, head of the Ereborian guard, accompanied his king to the royal chambers in the evening. He had to hurry to keep up with Thorin, who seemed to be very impatient. Never had he walked that fast lately, not even to lay eyes on his precious treasure. Shaking is head, Dwalin tried to imagine what the former burglar had done to his king during the last night. With a groan, Dwalin decided that he did not want to know. Thorin was lured away from the cursed gold, this was the most important thing. He would thank the lass when he had the chance.

Basil was sitting on the bed, eating a red apple as the king stormed through the door. She nearly chocked as the doors slammed open and winced as Thorin ordered Dwalin to stand watch outside of the royal chambers. With a last worried glance at Basil, Dwalin quietly closed the doors.

'You are back, my king.' Basil forced herself to smile and watched as Thorin undressed. Clad in only his trousers, with bare feet and a bare torso, Thorin joined his wife in bed. He was still strong and muscular, but Basil could see that he was thinner than before. He must have neglected his meals. Biting her lip, Basil pointed towards the food Bombur had brought for dinner.

'You should eat, my king.' she started, but as Thorins hand closed around her wrist holding the apple and pushed it away, she cursed her worry. Fine, if he starved to death then he would not be any threat to her anymore. In the next moment, Basil scolded herself for her thoughts. Thorin was sick and she was here voluntarily. Smirking mentally, Billa swallowed the piece of apple before it could get stuck in her throat. She already had an idea for another story.

'You just inspired me to another story, my king.' Basil stated dryly and held Thorin's gaze until he lowered it. His hand also losened around her wrist. 'But first, I will continue with the old story, if my king allows.'

Thorin slowly released her and sat back against the headboard. 'Continue, then.'

Basil was wearing another beautiful nightgown, a golden gown which flowed down her body in lush waves. Thorin nearly missed the beginning of the story as his gaze moved down the former burglars body. She had lost the muscles from their journey and had replaced them with soft female curves. Thorin wanted to move his hands over the soft creamy skin and feel the warmth of the female body. He wanted it more than anything. Really anything? Thorin paled. He had not thought about his gold for a moment and he had nearly not noticed.

'Thorin?' Basil's voice jerked him out of his dreamy state. 'I was about to continue. Are you with me?'

'I am...with you.' Thorin whispered and focused on Basil's face. Her eyes, her nose, her mouth...

'So, Azid became a burglar and stole from the dark elves. Piece by piece he took from Moria, soothing the guardian with the flute and selling the gold and jewels on his travels. He told his brother that he had made good fortune by selling his goods. He even got himself a slave, a beautiful...hobbit lass. His younger brother, Kazid, fell in love with her kind soul and her gentle demeanour. The slave was not only beautiful, she was also intelligent and witty. Life was good until...one day...the dark elves noticed pieces of their treasure missing. The leader of the elves hid inside of Moria and waited for the burglar to return. It took a moon until his patience was rewarded. Azid had enough gold and jewels to live a life in prosper, but his greed had made him return to Moria. He fell into the hands of the robber's leader, who slowly closed his huge hands around Azid's throat. Azid could feel the air leave his body and struggled, but he was no match for the stronger and taller dark elf.'

Basil looked at Thorin while she described how Azid died. Her voice had gotten quiet and hoarse and she could remember his hands around her own neck many months ago. Thorin looked down at his hands, ashamed and pale. He too, remembered their last encounter. How his fingers had closed around the soft skin of her neck. Thorin clenched his hands to fists and breathed loudly through his nose. Basil paused and moved closer towards her husband, taking advantage of his lost state of mind. She managed to crawl beside him and to cup his face in her small hands. Thorin jerked as her warm hands gently caressed his beard.

Basil swallowed as his eyes met hers. His blue orbs looked into her geen ones, full of guilt, shame and pain, but also full of hope and affection. For a moment she could see the old Thorin gazing back at her and forgot to continue with her story. A hard grip on her wrists made her jump back. Thorin's eyes were cold and distant again and doubt and distrust showed in his handsome face.

'The elf killed the burglar.' Thorin stated coldly. 'Continue.'

Basil sat back on her knees, but she did not recoil to the other end of the bed. She continued the story and spoke of Kazid's grief about the disappearing of his older brother and how he found comfort in the arms of the hobbit slave. Basil smiled as she described how the dwarf and the hobbit became more than master and slave, how they bonded in their love for each other. She described it in bits and pieces of her own relationship with Thorin before they had reached the mountain. Shy kisses in the dark and light, innocent touches under the watchful eyes of the company, exchanging glances while nobody was looking and hidden smiles behind their backs.

'Kazid thought about marrying his slave, but courting a slave in public would ruin his reputation as a rich merchant. The halfling however, stayed at his side, loyal and loving. Nothing could break her loyalty to him. If you love somebody enough, you can forgive him everything.'

And that was when a tear rolled down Thorin's face, as well as Basil's. The queen of Erebor spoke of forgiveness in the name of love. Both, king and queen had struggled to forgive each other since their parting. Thorin had to forgive Basil for her treason and for stealing the arkenstone from under his nose, to give it to the men and elves. Basil had to forgive Thorin his deeds and words at the gate. That night, the king and queen of Erebor did not sleep; they took a further step to a peaceful and forgiving future.

#

Dwalin woke up as his face made contact with the stone floor in front of the royal chambers. He had been standing there all night, his hands closed around the handles of his green axes and listening to any noise which might come out of the chambers. There had been none, like the guards had reported the night before. Then, Dwalin had fallen asleep.

The captain of the guard grunted and quickly stood up before someone could actually see him doze off on the floor. Dwalin jumped aside as Thorin emerged from the door and walked away, ready for his daily duty. The king looked different - but Dwalin could not tell what it was. He peeked into the chambers and saw Basil sprawled on the bed. For a horrible moment, Dwalin thought that Thorin had killed her as well. But then he saw her chest move under her breath. The queen was sleeping and Dwalin closed the door as he hurried to follow his king.

#

'I am tellin ya, he has changed!' Dwalin paced up and down in his brother Balin's study. 'I do not know how the lass did it, but it worked! Has he been in the treasury today?'

'Only for a short while. He returned to his chambers early, with fresh fruit and vegetables for the markets of Dale.' Balin smirked. Ori had nearly fainted as he had seen his king with all that green food. 'It seems that Basil has quite her own magic.'

'Let's hope that this will save her life.' Dwalin muttered. 'I still fear that Thorin might do something he would regret if he was sane.'

'We have to give the lass a chance.' Balin insisted. 'Everything we tried has backfired on us. It has been pure luck that Thorin has not banished anyone of the company so far. Maybe...if Fili and Kili...but we will never know.'

Balin and Dwalin sank back on their chairs in silent despair.

'How is Dis?' Dwalin asked, for he knew that Balin was in contact with the king's sister.

'Dis is in mourning.' Balin sighed. 'The loss of her sons was hard on her. As the elf came by the Blue Mountains and gave her Kili's runestone, she nearly broke down.'

'Damn that elf - I always thought that us dwarves were tactless.' Dwalin muttered into his beard. The elf had disappeared after her visit in the Blue Mountains and nobody knew where she was. Some said that she had fallen into the hands of rogue orcs, others said that she had faded in darkness because of her broken heart. Dwalin did not care, he only worried for his own.

'Dis will return when she deems it wise. In the moment, I fear that seeing Thorin like this would break for good.' Balin grumbled. 'Maybe it is a good thing that she is half a world away.'


	6. Chapter 6

Basil smiled as Bombur knocked on the doors of the royal chambers with his boots, his hands full with vegetables and fruits from Dale. He had nearly gotten a heartattack as Thorin had stormed into his kitchen, his own arms full with delicious treats for Basil, and had disappeared as loudly as he had appeared. But his actions spoke louder than his...words. Which as easy, considering that Thorin barely spoke to anyone anymore.

Humming happily for the first time since they had reclaimed the mountain, Bombur prepared lunch for the hobbit queen. Yesterday, he had brought her breakfast, but he had found her deeply asleep. He wondered, like the rest of the mountain, what Basil had done to prevent the mad king from killing her. Apparently, she had found something, which had kept her from sleeping at night. Shaking his head in embarassment for thinking about the king's and queen's nightly whereabouts, Bombur washed and sliced the fruit, noticing that there were no red apples in the basket.

#

That night, Thorin returned to his chambers alone and earlier than usual. Basil was just taking a bath and sunk into the tub as Thorin appeared in the door. Thorin had found her immediately and paused at the bathroom door, looking down at the hobbit in the huge tub. Basil had sunken down until the water reached her nose, so that she could still breathe, but the rest was under water. Under dark water. Thorin cursed mentally, for he could not see Basil's body. But he also wanted to hear the rest of the story and he was impatient. Slowly, he walked into the room and sat down on the floor, beside the tub, cocking his eyebrows at Basil.

'The story?' Basil guessed correctly. 'Now?'

'Yes.' Thorin leaned back and relished in the warmth the tub radiated. 'You can stay in the tub, I will not look.'

Basil sat up and stretched in the warm water. She did not know wether to feel embarassed or disappointed that Thorin would not look at her. Quietly, she leaned onto the rim of the tub, right beside Thorin. In fact, that surrounding inspired her for the rest of her story.

'Well, where were we? Oh yes, Kazid and his halfling slave lived a happy life - until...' Basil leaned down and whispered into Thorin's ears. '...until their peace was disturbed. The leader of the dark elves had followed Azid's trail and had laid eyes on the wealthy home of Kazid and his slave. The elf was no fool, he knew that the wealth of the thief's brother lay solely in the theft of his treasure. He was determined to get his treasure back and kill every living soul inside of the wealthy home. But there was no way to enter the mountain with forty bandits without being seen. Also, the city guards would never allow forty elves to enter the mountain! So, the dark elf had to be creative. He was a clever one, or else he would never have become such a wealthy thief. Only few days later, he disguised himself as a merchant and rolled his elves into the mountain - on a huge wagon in thirty nine...barrels.'

Basil smiled as Thorin started to laugh. Of course, the dwarven king had not forgotten how his burglar had rescued them out of Thranduil's palace. In barrels. The escape had been a wet and hard one, but without Basil's clever head, they would still be in the dungeons of Mirkwood.

Outside of the royal chambers, the guards exchanged an uneasy glance as they heard their king's booming laugh.

#

'The dark elf had managed to bring all his barrels to Kazid's home and his elves waited for their leader's sign, trapped inside of the empty barrels. The elven merchant joined Kazid and many other merchants in a merry celebration, for it was Durin's Day and the whole mountain was celebrating. The dark elf sat down with the dwarves, in close vicinity to Kazid, ready to sneak up to the dwarf and ram his hidden knife into his heart. Nobody recognised the elf, for he had covered his ears and had put on a fake beard. Nobody would mistake him for a dwarf, but for a merchant of men, surely. Only the halfling slave noticed the strange demeanour of the merchant, his dark glances towards Kazid and the way he had placed his barrels in front of their door. Almost strategically. The halfling sneaked to the barrels as the moon stood high in the sky and listened carefully. She could hear the bandits cursing inside of the barrels, for it was more than uncomfortable to stay in there for so long. Worried for the safety of her master, the slave returned to the festivities and...'

Basil had to find a way to get out of the tub, the water was cold and she felt pruny. She tried to get out of the tub without noise, but some of the water splashed onto Thorin, who also stood up. Basil quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself before Thorin could see her. Thorin turned around in reflex and blushed as he saw his wife in only a towel, which barely covered her. Basil blushed under his gaze and not only her cheeks, but also her chest colored brightly red and Thorin could not look away.

It had been a while since Basil had seen this look in his eyes and it had usually been directed at the gold in the treasury. But this time it was directed at her and it was not a look of pure lust, but also of desire and admiration. Basil felt brave all of a sudden. Not breaking the eye contact and climbing out of the tub, she continued her story.

'The halfling slave found a way to divert the attention away from the guests and onto her. She started dancing and singing, an old dwarven song of the Misty Mountains and swung her hips to the slow rythm of the song...' Basil began to sinfully move her hips and she danced through the room, not by much, but enough to make Thorins eyes widen. He gazed down from her face, over her chest and down to her hips, which were softly moving to the rythm of the song, which Basil was humming now. Both remembered the night after Thorin and his company had invaded Basil's peaceful home and had turned her life upside down. It had been the song, sung by Thorin, which had made Basil follow them in the end. The sadness in his deep voice had touched her and also bewitched her. She had known that night that she would follow that voice and that dwarf...everywhere he would lead. Into the deep of the mountain, into the dragon's den and into worse. But Basil would do it again, anytime.

'As I said...' Basil could not hold back a sweet smile as she disappeared behind a bathroom wall to slip into her nightgown - no golden one this time, a plain white one - 'The slave danced and made sure that all eyes were on her. She danced towards the barrels and tipped the first one over, so that it rolled against the others and caused them to fall over as well. Soon, all thirty nine barrels rolled down the halls of the mountain and crashed against walls and mine shafts. The cries inside of the barrels alerted the dwarven guards and the dark elves were captured and imprisoned. Their leader knew that he only had one chance for revenge, even if it might cost his life. But he had, again, not expected that the slave would step into his way. The halfling stood between him and her master, brave and courageous, wielding a letter opener in her hands. She threw the small thing with a deadly precision and hit the dark elf smack in the heart. She had saved her master's life that day and the lives of the whole household. Kazid realised that there was no worth in living a life in wealth without true love in it. He married his slave later the same week. The halfling stood in high regards of the whole mountain, for her brave deeds at Durin's Day and her courage and beauty. They lived happily ever after.'

There was a heavy silence following the end of the story. Thorin looked at his wife, who was standing in the doorframe, clad in a simple white nightgown. He had understood the purpose of her story and it made him feel...guilty, sad, ashamed and angry. He was still captured in his madness and he struggled to see the reason behind the story, at least fully. But he could also not tear his gaze away from his beautiful wife. Slowly, he walked towards Basil and saw her swallow.

'This slave...how was her name?' he asked, his voice hoarse and thick with emotion.

Basil recoiled into the bedroom, until her knees hit the bed. She looked up and right into Thorin's eyes as she whispered the name.

'Bilba.'


	7. Chapter 7

‚Bilba.' Thorin mused. ‚I thought that all hobbits bore names of flowers or plants?'

‚This is a story, your majesty.' Basil murmured and lowered her gaze. ‚Nothing more, nothing less.'

Thorin nodded and walked back to the tub, undressing quickly. Basil turned away with a blush and cleared her throat, but not before taking a quick glimpse at her husband's body. The thick muscles clenched and tightened as the king undressed and Basil could not help but take a look at the firm backside before she completely turned away. The physical attraction to Thorin had been there from the beginning, but she had been diverted by his rudeness and his stubborness, traits she found as attractive lateron. She listened to Thorin wash himself and cuddled deep into the sheets. Basil was already half asleep as Thorin's whisper near her ear made her jump.

‚Your name is a weed.' Thorin stated as a matter of fact and made Basil smile.

‚Yes, it is, my king.' she answered and turned around to face him. ‚It is the same weed as kingsfoil or athelas, as the elves call it.'

‚So...you bare the name of a weed which saves lives?' Thorin laid back onto his pillow. His nephew, Kili, had been saved by athelas as an orc arrow had struck him. The king closed his eyes in grief as he remembered his nephews, but then he banished every memory of them. He felt like a coward for doing this, but the grief was too much to take.

Basil did not know how to answer that and decided to engage him in another story. The one about her own family. She did not guess what made Thorin's expression cold and distant all of a sudden.

‚My mother's name was Belladonna. It is a poisonous weed, I do not think that this was an omen, though.' Basil turned onto her side and looked at Thorin as she spoke. ‚My mother was a Took, a member of one of the wealthier and more important families of the Shire. The Tooks are known for their curiosity which reaches far over the borders of the Shire. My great grandfather, Bullroarer Took, was a tall hobbit and he was one of the few who could ride a real horse and wield a long sword. A century ago, a horde of rogue orcs crossed the border to the Shire. Bullroarer Took fought them back and killed their leader. He was also the one who called for the Dunedain rangers for help. He knew that the hobbits are too peaceful and too soft to wield weapons, even if it was for their own protection. He was the first Thain of the Took family and the rule of the Shire stayed in the family since then.'

‚So, my queen is in fact of royal blood.' Thorin seemed pleased.

‚Technically, no.' Basil felt uneasy for comparing the Thain of the Shire with a king, for he simply was not. ‚No hobbit is of royal blood, for we have no royal family.'

‚And again, you do not see your worth...' Thorin whispered and turned to face Basil. ‚Continue.'

‚Well...' Basil swallowed and lowered her gaze as she felt Thorin's blue eyes on her. She had never been able to resist his gaze, not on their journey and not afterwards. The feeling, which the blue eyes awoke inside of her, scared Basil. She fought the nearly overwhelming urge to reach out for Thorin, her husband, and grabbed the sheet instead. ‚My mother was a Took with a strong interest in adventures and the world outside of the Shire. She was always called ‚fool of a Took' by Gandalf. They met on one of her journeys in Bree. He came to her rescue as some men wanted to take advantage of the single female hobbit. My mother always told me that she had everything under control as the meddling wizard showed up, but I guess it did no harm that Gandalf showed up when he did. Gandalf has a distinct timing – probably that is why he disappeared right after our wedding.'

Basil sighed, she would have loved to speak to Gandalf after her wedding, but one of the guards in front of the royal quarters had informed her of his departure. If Basil would not have trusted Gandalf blindly, his departure would have hurt her. He was the one who had brought her here, right into the lion's den. But then again, she had come here voluntarily, to save Thorin from himself.

‚My mother and Gandalf travelled through the West of Middle Earth together and returned to the Shire almost half a year later. Most of the hobbits saw a troublemaker in Gandalf, but he was accepted as my mother's guest and the guest of the Thain. My mother spent most of her time in her study after her travels. She wrote a journal and many books about Elves in Sindarin.' Basil paused as Thorin snorted. ‚One day, at the market, she stumbled over another Hobbit, who was paying too much attention on his waistcoat and his handkerchiefs. She snarled at him and continued to walk down the road, not knowing that the Hobbit looked after her in awe until she was gone in the crowd. That Hobbit was Bungo Baggins, my father. The Bagginses were respectable and down to earth family. I was the first to...fall out of line. Did I tell you that I was called Mad Baggins after I returned to the Shire?'

Basil had thought nothing of it as she told Thorin about her return, but Thorin sat up straight as she mentionned her nickname and made her jump. Thorin looked as if he fought for words and Basil looked up at him in worry.

‚What is it?' she asked quietly.

‚Mad Baggins.' Thorin murmured with disdain. The mixed emotions in this moment scared him and gave him a headache. These halflings dared to call his burglar a mad one. His burglar, who had followed him through all of Middle Earth, through perils and dangers of which those halflings would not even dream. But immediately after Thorin had those thoughts, his doubts started to scream bloody murder in his mind. His burglar, who had deceived him, who had stolen from him and who had lied to him. The hobbit who had held his heart but decided to take sides with the men and elves. Elves. Thorin's handsome face turned into an ugly grimace as he looked down at his wife.

Basil began to shiver, for his expression was the same one he bore as he had nearly thrown her down the gate of Erebor. Pulling the sheet up to her chin, she backed away as far as she could without falling down the bed.

But Thorin did not advance on her, he stood up and started to get ready for the day. It was not yet morning, but he had to get out of this room. He had to leave before he hurt her. Grinding his teeth, Thorin fled his own rooms and rushed down to the treasury, leaving a pale Basil behind. The hobbit queen scolded herself for her lose mouth. She had awaken bad memories in her husband, who she tried to save from his dark mind. Groaning in frustration, Basil hid her face in her hands. At least she was still alive and she would have to continue her story the next night. She would have to be more careful and thought about how she could divert Thorin's dark thoughts. But at first, she had to sleep. With a sigh, Basil fell into the pillows. A mad king and a mad hobbit - what a pair they made.

#

‚Does Thorin ever sleep?' Basil asked Oin as he visited her in the royal quarters. He was one of the few who paid her a visit. Balin and Dwalin had seen her and Bombur and Ori, who brought her food and books. But the old healer tried to avoid Basil's questions, pushing his deafness between them.

‚There are no sheep in this mountain, dear!' Oin yelled at Basil and made her chuckle.

‚Oin, I know that you heard me the first time. Answer me. I am your queen, I demand it.' Basil clenched her small hands to fists as she told him to answer her. If there was no other way, she would order him to answer her again. She highly respected Oin, but she was in no mood for games.

‚The king barely sleeps, my queen.' Oin shook his head.

‚But how can he...?' Basil chewed on her lip. ‚He needs to sleep. How can he even go on without sleeping?'

‚It's the dragonsickness.' Oin sighed. ‚Thorin will not sleep – out of fear that when he wakes up...'

‚What? Out of fear that one of his precious golden coins will be missing when he wakes up?' Basil asked bitterly.

‚Maybe...nobody truly understands this sickness, only the ones who are sick themselves. And they will never be able to tell the tale.' Oin told Basil. ‚Our king should have died on the battlefield, my queen. It would have been better, for him.'

‚I do not want to hear this, Oin!' Basil grinded her teeth. She understood Oin's sentiment and a part of her felt the same way, but this was about Thorin. The leader of their quest, the king under mountain and king of her heart. She would not give him up without a fight. ‚Oin?'

‚Yes, my queen?' Oin looked down at her with a fatherly expression.

‚I need sleeping potion.' Basil alread had a backup plan.

‚Do you not get enough sleep?' Oin asked, suddenly in worry. ‚You are already eating less than you should, the lack of sleep might...'

‚Not for me.' Basil shook her head. ‚For Thorin.'

‚You want to drug the king?' Oin's eyed nearly popped out of his head. ‚Are you out of your mind?! He will kill you!'

‚You all thought that he would kill me after our wedding. He did not.' Basil stated determinately. ‚Thorin needs his strength to fight the sickness. He is still in there, I know it.'

‚Lassie...' Oin shook his head in despair. ‚Is that an order?'

‚I will make it one if I have to.' Basil lifted her chin. ‚But I want you to trust me and help me. Will you do this?'

‚I guess I have no other choice.' Oin mumbled and made ready to leave. ‚The sleeping potion will be ready by tomorrow evening.'

‚Thank you, Oin.' Basil sighed in relief. Only one more night, then she would try to actively heal her husband. She would try or die trying.


	8. Chapter 8

The sun had set behind the new city of Dale as Thorin rushed back to his chambers. He could not remember when he had last felt this anticipation to return to his rooms, in fact he was sure that he never anticipated it in his life. Now, he had something to come back to, or better say, someone. His anger from the night before was forgotten and he could not wait to hear more about Basil's family. His wife's family. Her mother sounded like an interesting person and her father – well, to be honest, it did sound as if Basil's mother had taken the male part in that family. But maybe he was wrong. Thorin needed to know. Yesterday, he was close to sending a bataillon of armed dwarves to the Shire to punish the foolish hobbits who dared to insult his wife. Still, he was grateful that his mood had changed under the prospect of seeing Basil again.

‚So, your mother snarled at your father as they first met?' Thorin asked as he stepped through the door.

‚Good evening, husband.' Basil smiled and turned around from the table in the middle of the room. ‚Are you not hungry? We should have dinner first.'

‚I am not hungry.' Thorin growled and undressed down to his simple tunic and trousers.

‚I will continue my story, my king, during dinner.' Basil stayed calm, although she felt shivers run down her spine. ‚You need to eat, you have lost weight.'

‚As you have.' Thorin realised what he had said after the words had left his mouth. A small voice in his head told him that he did not care wether his queen had lost weight, on the other hand he did care. The bigger part of him was the latter. Thorin's emotions made his head ache and his mind cloud and he hated it.

‚I have.' Basil lowered her gaze and walked to her seat, gesturing Thorin to do the same. Reluctantly, the king obeyed and sat down. As he looked down at his plate, he saw a small salad and frowned. With two fingers, he lifted one of the bigger salad leaves and looked beneath it.

‚Where is the meat?' Thorin asked and frowned even deeper as Basil chuckled.

‚Oin told me that you have not eaten properly for months. You will need a small salad to prepare your stomach for meat.' Basil told him and started to eat.

‚Nozy old bastard.' Thorin muttered into his beard. He would not touch the green food.

‚I will continue my story when you eat.' Basil told him and Thorin's frown deepened if that was even possible.

Basil watched as Thorin fought a battle in his mind. A part of him wanted to throw the salad into his wife's smirking face, the other part really wanted to hear the story. Grabbing his fork and stabbing the innocent salad to death, Thorin began to eat with a thunderous expression.

‚Yes, my mother snarled at my father the first time they met.' Basil had not forgotten Thorin's eagerness as he had arrived. ‚She even yelled at him the second time. It was not really love at first sight.'

‚Like with us.' Thorin mumbled, but Basil heard him. She pause midsentence and looked at her husband. Then she smiled.

‚Yes, like with us. My mother also insulted my father at first – she called him a daydreamer, because he ran into her again. Of course, my father would say that she ran into him, but I digress. All of Hobbiton saw them yell at each other – no they saw my mother yell at my father – and the Bagginses shook their heads about the disrespectful ways of the Tooks. The Brandybucks, the Proudfoots –ehm Proudfeet- and the Sackvilles talked about them behind their backs. Only the Tooks were alert and saw my parents bump into each other more and more often, supposedly by accident. They saw the faint smile on my mother's face and the dreamy expression on my father's. It took my father many weeks to ask my mother on a date to begin their courtship. The first time they met outside of the market, my mother's best friend, Lilac Sackville, accompanied them to chaperone. It must have been hilarious. Lilac was a good friend, but she was only difficult to bare. She did not let my father near my mother at any time of the evening and she even hit him with her umbrellla as he wanted to kiss my mother goodnight. Sometimes I think that it was her to urged my father to quickly move forward in their courtship so that they could lose the chaperone. After the engagement, hobbits are in no need of a chaperone anymore. My father proposed to my mother after half a year after they started their courtship, which is quite fast for a hobbit courtship. My father then build Bag End with his own hands. He owned the land on top of Hobbiton and he was a quite skilled craftsman. It took him another eight months to build Bag End and in the end, it became the most beautiful and homely smial in all Hobbiton.'

‚It is a wonderful home.' Thorin remembered the warm home behind the green door. He had felt at peace immediately after he had stepped over Basil's door. A peace he had been reluctant to leave – or had it been the hobbit inside of that home. Thorin had tried to make Basil feel unwelcome in his company, for he could not understand why the hobbit would leave this peaceful home to go on a quest with thirteen dwarves. Thirteen dwarves and their insufferable leader.

‚Yes, it was.' Basil nodded and swallowed bitterly. She had left Bag End in the hands of her cousin as she left this time, she did not want to return to find her home in the hands of the greedy Sackville-Bagginses again. But Basil knew now, that she would never return. She would either die under this cursed mountain or become its queen. Either way, Bag End was not her home anymore, nor would it ever be again.

Thorin watched from across the table as tears filled Basil's eyes. He only felt a hollow ache in his heart as he saw his queen fight her tears. He moved before he could form a decent thought. Halfway across the table he stopped and took a look around. He had an idea, but he would need to make sure that Basil left their rooms and that he spent less time in the council. With no thought he tried to take time of the treasury, he spent too little time with his gold already.

#

Basil had seen Thorin walk up to her, but she had not looked up to him. She was afraid that she would shed her tears if she looked at her husband, the dwarf of whom she hoped to gain comfort and warmth. But Thorin stopped halfway towards her and his gaze wandered over the room. He looked as lost as Basil felt and the queen stood up to meet him halfway.

‚You have not eaten your dinner, husband.' Basil whispered and took one of the meatplates into her hands, to hold it under Thorin's nose. The smell of the roasted beef jerked Thorin back to reality. Basil smiled as he began to walk back to his seat. She placed the meat in front of him and sat down at his side.

‚Now, where was I?' Basil took a small piece of meat into her hands and ate slowly. ‚Ah yes, Bag End. My parents lived in their smial for five years before I was born. Many hobbits thought that the unusual pairing of a Took and a Baggins was diminishing their chances of getting pregnant, but of course that was absolute nonsense. My parents wanted to relish in their...lovelife for a while, without being interrupted. They kept it secret, for it would have been a highly unrespectable thing to do to prevent pregnancies openly. Some of their closest relatives who knew, thought that it was a punishment of the Valar that my parents were only blessed with one fauntling afterwards. With me.'

‚How many little ones – fauntlings – does a hobbit family have?' Thorin wanted to know. Dwarves usually had only one dwarfling, sometimes two. Three dwarflings were a sign of Mahals blessing. Shaking his head bitterly, Thorin denied that his parents had been blessed by Mahal. His mother had died in dragonfire, his younger brother had died at Azanulbizar and his father...his father had died in Dol Guldur, robbed of his birthright, his sanity and his honor. Only Dis and him were still alive, a fact which bothered Thorin more than anything. Even now, in his madness, he would trade his own life for the lives of his nephews anytime. He would have embraced death, if he could bring Fili and Kili back, but he knew that it was not possible.

‚Most hobbit families have four or five fauntlings.' Basil told him and smirked as Thorin chocked on his meat. It took a while for Thorin to catch his breath.

‚I am an old dwarf, my queen. I am not sure if I can give you as many...fauntlings.' Thorin blushed as he adressed this particular topic. During their quest, their kisses had become hungry and their bodies had reacted to their touches, but nothing more had happened. The thought of doing more made Thorin blush and to his relief he noticed that Basil reacted the same way. At the same time, Thorin cursed himself a fool. He was no innocent dwarfling anymore and he had had his share of willing dwarf women and human was no reason for being nervous about this.

Thorin jumped as he felt Basil's hand on his arm. Her touch was warm and comforting and he could feel her gaze on his face.

‚You are not old, my king.' Basil whispered. ‚And I am sure that we will be blessed by Mahal and his wife, Yavanna, as well.'

As Thorin looked up and into his wife's eyes, time stood still.


	9. Chapter 9

**A longer chapter this time for my loyal and sweet readers :) A little bit of humor in this one as well, I hope that it is not too much out of place.**

**I also corrected the ,xx' back to 'xx'. **

Thorin did not know how long they simply stared at each other. His hand slowly moved up to cup Basil's face and he winced mentally as Basil closed her eyes and leaned into his palm, for he could not understand her trust in him. Thorin let his callous fingers move over her cheek, his thumb gracing her lips. As the callous tip of his thumb moved over her lower lip, Basil opened her eyes and what she saw took her breath away. Thorin's deep blue eyes burned into hers, he looked right into her soul. Basil looked back into his eyes and could see the old Thorin – the one she had gotten to know and love during their quest. The one who had arrogantly stepped into her home and had called her a barmaid. The one who had constantly made her feel unwelcome in the company, but had watched over her nevertheless. The one who had admitted his wrongs and had given her all he could give – friendship, trust, love and a home. Basil had found a home in the company, a home worth more to her than Bag End, though she realised it just now.

All of a sudden, Basil could feel Thorin stiffen and focused on his eyes. She noticed a golden gleam in the irises and she could even see a shadow crossing over them, a shadow of a dragon. She understood that the madness took over again and acted without thinking. Lunging forward she smashed her lips onto Thorin's in a searing kiss and kept her eyes on his. While she pressed her lips against his dry ones, she could see the golden shadow fade in Thorin's wide eyes. Thorin's hand on her cheek snatched away in surprise, but Basil cupped his face instead. Closing her eyes, she softened the kiss and brushed Thorin's lips with the tip of her tongue every now and then. It took a while until Thorin reacted and Basil was close to lose all hope as he started to reluctantly kiss back. But her joy lasted only for a moment. As soon as Thorin began to kiss back he let out a strangled noise and jumped back, crashing the chair in the process. Basil let go of him as if she had burned herself and gasped as she saw his expression, one of horror and...something else Basil could not decipher.

'Thorin.' Basil reached out for her husband, but Thorin recoiled.

'No...you cannot...' Thorin whispered something in Khuzdul before he turned on his heels and fled his rooms. Basil knew where he was going and her heart broke a little bit more. Basil would rather die than set one foot into the cursed treasury again, but she had to bind Thorin to their chambers, at least at night.

#

'Thorin!' Balin gasped as the king rushed by him with a haunted expression, close to panic. The old advisor followed his king, frowning as he realised that they were walking to Erebor's gates and not to the treasury. 'Your Majesty, where are you going?'

But Thorin did not answer, nor stop, until he had reached the lookout above the gates. It was the same place where he had seen Basil last before their lives had fallen apart. Here, he had destroyed whatever bond they had for good – or so he had thought. Basil's kiss had awaken emotions in Thorin, which he thought long gone. Longing, affection and even love warmed his heart, but Thorin could feel the goldsickness cloud his mind even stronger than before as well. The stronger his feelings for Basil grew, the stronger the sickness clawed his mind. If he was not sure about his madness already, he would fear to go insane from his emotions alone.

Thorin walked to the part of the lookout where he had tried to throw Basil down to the treacherous men and elves. His callous palm moved over the cold stone and Balin, who was standing behind his king, sighed in understanding. But he also knew that he needed to bring Thorin back to his rooms before the call of the gold lured the king to the treasury.

'The queen is waiting for you in your quarters, my king.' Balin told Thorin, hoping to pull him out of this obsessed state of mind.

'The queen.' Thorin's voice was monotone and hoarse. 'I should not go back. I am not good for her. I am a threat to her. Why did the accursed wizard bring her here? He sealed her fate.'

'No.' Balin did not know from where he took the courage, but enough was enough. 'You will seal her fate – as well as yours. The lass is a courageous one and she fights the battle for you. Do not let her down – again!'

With these words, Balin left the lookout; on one hand out of fear that the king might decide to toss him down the gate, on the other hand he left out of respect. He would not watch his king while he fought the madness within- and maybe lose.

#

Nori grumbled into his beard as he stood in the shadows, watching his king while he gazed up to the stars. It was bitterly cold and Nori was sure that he had already lost one or two toes to frost bite. Balin had woken him up and had practically shoved him out of his cozy warm bed to keep an eye on the king. Nori had barely managed to throw over a coat and a pair of boots. The king's advisor had told Nori to inform him as soon as Thorin would head towards the treasury, so far, so good, but Thorin had not moved for what Nori felt like ages. And Thorin was even wearing less than Nori and he was showing no sign of the cold. Nori cursed again and nearly missed that Thorin had turned around to walk back into the mountain. Wincing because his feet were numb of cold, Nori followed his king into the dark of the mountain, which was only illuminated by small torches at that time of night. Thorin headed towards the treasury and Nori was on his way to alert Balin, but then Thorin stopped. Nori frowned as he saw his king's bearing grow unsure and reluctant. Thorin's steps faltered and he stopped only a few feet in front of the stairs which led down to the treasury. Thorin stood there for a while, not moving at all and Nori wished that he could see his face. Then, all of a sudden, Thorin shook his head and walked back to the corridor leading to the royal chambers. Nori was about to follow as Thorin changed his direction yet again and walked back to the stairs, but again he paused before he could walk down.

'Are ye kiddin me?' Nori was close to burst as Thorin began to pace too and fro between the corridor and the stairs, clearly unsure where to go, but then, Nori bit his lip. It was a good thing that Thorin seemed to be less drawn to the gold, he should be grateful. This madness had torn the company apart and had destroyed his friend, the former Thorin Oakenshield. Nori remembered the times when Thorin had seen all dwarves of the company as brother in arms and not as subjects. He had taken care of Ori and had supported him and Dori more than once during their loves in the Blue Mountains, that was one of the reasons the brothers Ri followed him on this quest. But now, things were different.

Nori sighed sadly as Thorin slowly, but determinately, walked down the stairs towards the treasury and decided to wake Balin.

#

Basil woke up from a loud sneeze in the morning. She nearly fell of the bed and needed some moments to wake up. At first, she had not been able to sleep last night, due to the fact that Thorin had run from her and their kiss, but close to sunrise, Basil had fallen into an exhausted sleep. As she jerked awake, she noticed that the bed shifted towards the other side and opened her eyes.

'Thorin?' Basil could not believe it. Her husband was back, snuggling deep into the sheets and sniffing. Sniffing? And sneezing? 'Thorin?'

Basil stood up and walked to the other side of the bed to face Thorin. The king was looking terrible, he had dark rings bellow his eyes and he was sweating. As Basil reached out for him and touched his forehead, she could feel that he was burning of fever.

'Sweet Yavanna!' Basil muttered. Thorin was in their bed, his eyes closed and the sheets pulled up to his chin. He obviously was sick and Basil rushed to the doors to inform the guards to get Oin. She would have gotten him herself, but she was still not allowed to leave the royal chambers, much to her annoyance. But who would stop her? Thorin was in no condition to stop her. Basil looked down at her husband in worry. He had caught a bad cold, which was rare for a dwarf. But given that he had barely slept and eaten for months, it was only a matter of time until his body would surrender. Softly, Basil moved her hand over Thorin's sweaty forehead and into the black, messy waves of hair. Thorin let out a strangled noise, that sounded so much like a purr that Basil had to smile. She almost did not hear Oin coming, but as she turned around, she saw Oin, Balin and Ori standing in the door.

'Master Oin, the king is sick...' Basil bit her lip as soon as the words had left her mouth. Of course he was sick – just not mad – at least at the moment. 'I mean...he caught a cold and he has a high fever.'

'Nori as well!' Ori whispered to Basil as Oin stared to examine the king. 'He has not left his bed all morning, cursing about some insufferable royal moron – I think he means Thorin!'

For the first time in months, Basil had to chuckle. She could imagine why Nori was sick, apparently, he had followed his king around the mountain the last night. With a glance at Balin, Basil searched for confirmation. As Balin shrugged his shoulders apologetically, Basil knew that she was right.

'It appears that it is only a cold, even though I am quite concerned, lassie.' Oin was finished with the examination. 'His lack of sleep and meals has taken a toll on him, his fever is high and he is not waking up.'

'Is there anything you can do?' Basil paled. She had not expect that it was that severe.

'The king needs to stay warm. He needs to drink alot of fluids, chicken broth, tea, water...do not bother giving him food, he will not be able to keep it in.' Oin sighed. 'It was only a matter of time until it had to happen, I should have forced him to eat and sleep.'

'There was no way you would have gotten his majesty to sleep or eat, we all tried.' Balin murmured and glanced at Basil. 'He is in your reaponsibility now. We will bring you all that you need.'

Basil nodded and watched the three dwarves – friends – leave the room. Thorin appeared to be sleeping and Basil quietly roamed around the chambers, taking every fur she could find and draping it over her husband's shivering body. She lit the fire and made some tea, for she had quite a large stock. It was one of the things Thorin had brought her from Dale a few days ago, a tea pot, cups, mint, ginger, honey, camomille and dried fruit. Basil smiled as she remembered how Thorin had barged into their chambers that day, his arms filled with fresh food and other things for her. She had not realised it then, but even in his sickness he had tried to make her feel comfortable – in her prison. Basil shook her head; he had probably not thought anything by it – or had he? Basil was more than confused and tried to concentrate on the tea. She mixed some mint, ginger and honey into the hot water and let it stirr for a long moment. As she walked to the bed with the cup, she realised that there was no way that she could make Thorin drink it. Thorin was laying on his side and he was sleeping or unconscious, Basil did not know. She would have to bring him into a sitting position to make him drink the tea. With a sigh, Basil put down the cup and moved onto the bed, pushing Thorin onto his back and straddling him. She removed the blankets and the furs and tried to pull him up by his arms.

The king did not move one tiny bit. Basil pulled as hard as she could, but she could not lift him. Standing up on her feet and taking only one of Thorin's arms, Basil took a deep breath and pulled again, this time lifting his shoulder only inches from the bed before she had to let go. Panting, Basil cursed and rested her hands on her hips as she heard a deep chuckle coming from the door.

Dwalin was standing there, highly amused and grinning for the first time since Basil knew him. He was carrying Oin's medicine and some water, as well as a pot of chicken broth.

'This is not funny.' Basil growled, but Dwalin only huffed with laughter.

'It is from where I am standing.' he remarked and walked to the desk to put everything down. As he walked up to the bed, Basil cocked her eyebrows at him. 'Here ya go.'

Dwalin only needed one arm to hurl Thorin into a sitting position and Basil quickly pushed some pillows behing his back to stabilise him.

'Thank you.' she muttered and made Dwalin smirk.

'You're welcome, my queen.' Dwalin cocked an eyebrow at her. 'Look at that. So it is true, married couples become more alike.'

He grinned as Basil looked at him with a deep frown, reminding him of Thorin again.

Basil sat down beside Thorin and tried to purr some of the tea down his throat. After a few sips, Thorin started coughing and Basil waited patiently to continue. Dwalin stayed with her until the cup was empty and then pushed the pot with soup into her hands. Basil sighed and tried to give some of the soup to Thorin, but was stopped by Dwalin.

'No, lass.' The captain of the guard gave her another spoon. 'This is for you.'


	10. Chapter 10

It took almost four days for Thorin to regain a bit of his strength again. The first two days, he could not leave the bed without feeling dizzy and collapsing and after that he gave it up and grumbled into his beard in his bed. At night, he was alone, because Oin told Basil to stay away from their bed to not get sick as well. Thorin did not admit it, but he missed her presence in their bed. Most of the daytime he was complaining about the boring food and how he felt like a dwarfling again, because he was not able to leave bed. Once, he even snapped at Basil, who had tried to feed him Oin's chicken broth again. Basil, who was annoyed beyond measure, gave up and gave him some of her dinner, roasted meat with chips. She also arranged a bucket beside the bed. Of course, the king vomitted for the rest of the evening and the only complaints Basil heard after that were quiet growls and murmurs in Khuzdul.

Ironically, these days were the happiest Basil had had since their wedding. Thorin seemed back to his old self again, even if that meant that he was the insufferable and grumpy dwarf he was when they first met. There was no sign of the goldsickness, until Thorin began to regain his strength six days later. He used the short walks, ordered by Oin, to walk to the treasury.

Dwalin was the one to contact Basil and ask for her help, for Balin did not dare. He knew what Basil had endured through Thorin's madness and did not want to ask her for more. But Dwalin confronted Basil one day and only barely contained his anger.

‚My queen, the king is in the treasury.' Dwalin began after Basil had closed the door behind them. ‚You have to do something.'

‚And what, master Dwalin, shall I do?' Basil asked dryly. She was exhausted and annoyed. She had already tried everything, she had cared for him during his sickness, she had endured his grumpiness and she had supported him with all her might. ‚Shall I chain him to the bed?'

‚Maybe you should.' Dwalin grumbled, but instantly closed his eyes in defeat. ‚I apologise. You are the only one who could lure him away from the treasury during the past days. He has not been in there much since you returned. How did you do it?'

‚I have done nothing, master Dwalin.' Basil shook her head. ‚I solely tried to stay alive.'

‚He has changed since you are back with him.' Dwalin did not give up. ‚You did something. Please, for your sake, for Thorin's sake, continue with what you did. Nobody will ask you for help, but I will.'

With these last words, the captain of the guard turned around to leave the royal chambers. He knew that he had crossed a line, but he also knew that Basil was Thorin's only chance. Only the queen could save his soul and his life.

Basil sat in her armchair for a long time after Dwalin had left. She was shivering; partly of anger, partly of fear and also of worry. The queen was furious about Dwalin's words. Had she not done enough? Had she not suffered enough? She had tried everything, she did not understand why Thorin began to turn to his gold again. During his cold, Thorin had been himself. He had been weak and grumpy, but he had been himself. Only as his fever disappeared he turned into the goldgreedy and mad king again.

And she had really tried everything. When she had kissed him, he had run away from her. Basil knew that he would have to make the first step if they ever wanted to be intimate as husband and wife. Basil wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. Maybe Thorin simply did not find her attractive and did not want her in his bed. She had seen lust in his eyes when he had looked at her in their nights together, but she still felt insecure. Basil was unsure wether Thorin lusted for her or for her golden aura. She had stopped wearing gold as jewelry or as clothing. But this had not been reason for Thorin's distance.

Basil sat up straight as she realised what she had done wrong. She had stopped telling her stories! Thorin seemed captured by her stories and he had forgotten about the gold under the spell of the fantasy. Quickly, Basil made the bed and ordered the guards to call for Bombur. She needed red apples.

#

Thorin came back to his chambers after three days. Basil had been sick of worry, but Nori had informed her that the king had stayed in the treasury and had slept on his armchair, which Balin had brought there so that his king could at least rest a bit. Nori had only needed two days to get rid of his cold and was back to full strength again, much to the relief of his brothers.

Now, finally, Thorin returned to the royal wing. He did not look at Basil as he entered the rooms and headed directly to the bathroom. He smelled decent again as he emerged from the bath and walked towards the bed as he froze. Basil was lying on her side with her eyes closed and a red apple in her hand. Thorin gasped as he remembered when he had seen such an apple before. Two days after their wedding, he had closed his hands around Basil's neck and she had nearly choked on such an apple. Now, he was standing there, staring down at the red fruit in his wife's hand. She had taken a bite, but she seemed to have fallen asleep.

For a moment, Thorin thought about returning to the treasury, but the memory of their nights together and the stories Basil could tell made him freeze on the spot. He missed her stories, but he would not tell her that. His pride stood in his way once again.

With a deep sigh, Thorin sat down on the edge of the bed and the shifting of the mattress made Basil wake up. She stretched lazily and smiled at her husband, who swallowed and took the apple out of her hand.

‚This shining red fruit inspired me to another story.' Basil stated quietly and glances at Thorin. ‚Is my husband in the mood for another story?'

Thorin nodded slowly and Basil slid to the middle of the bed and leaned against the headboard, gesturing Thorin to sit down beside her. Reluctantly, Thorin moved to her side and tried to relax.

‚A long time ago in a far away land, a queen of men lived happily and peacefully at the side of her husband king. She was with child and often took a walk in her own garden at night, when she could not sleep, where roses bloomed all year long. She reached out for one of the roses and pricked her finger on the thorns. A drop of red blood became visible in the pale moonlight and the queen had a vision of her unborn daughter. A beautiful lass, with a complexion as white as moonstone, hair as black as ebony and and lips as red as blood.' Basil let her fingers move over her skin, her lips and then through Thorin's locks as she spoke and her gaze never left Thorin, who watched her with his mouth open.

Basil shifted and stretched her legs, grabbing Thorin's braid and pulling him down until his head rested in her lap. Warmth spread through Basil's body as Thorin's head heavily rested in her lap and continued her story, carefully stroking through Thorin's curls.

‚The princess was born in a stormy winter's night. The queen died giving birth to her and her father, the king, invested all his attention and love in his daughter, named Selene. The princess was kind, warm hearted and beautiful and everyone loved her. Everyone but the mysterious lady, who appeared out of nowhere one day. Her caravan was attacked by bandits and the remaining soldiers had brought her to the palace for safety. This lady was beautiful as well, with long silverblonde hair, pale skin, blue eyes and delicated features. Her aura was powerful and soon, she had caught the king's interest. The king was lonely after the death of his queen and the beauty of this mysterious lady ensnared him. He married her only weeks later and the kingdom relished in the sight of their happy king. Even the princess was happy to have a new mother. But this peace did not last. One night, the king died without any signs of sickness or force. The queen seemed devastated and the princess was heartbroken. But it had been the queen, who had killed him with a powerful poison. She was a dark witch and she seeked to take over the rule of this powerful kingdom.'

Basil did not know that she had hit a nerve with this story. Neither did she know that Thorin's queens had tried to kill him under the influence of the arkenstone, nor did she know that using poison was one of the highest crimes in dwarfen society. Thorin's face darkened and he stiffened in Basil's lap. This time, Basil saw it and began to move her fingers over his face, stroking the scowl away. She massaged the frown from between his brows and began to move through his facial hair. It took a while until Thorin closed his eyes and his expression grew more relaxed. Basil continued her story as Thorin opened his eyes and looked directly into hers.

‚Nobody knew what the dark queen was planning. As long as the princess was a child, she was in no danger, so she lived. Selene was a humble character, she worked in the kitchen of the palace, helped the healers and was loved by all the subjects of the kingdom. She had a heart of gold and soon, the queen began to envy her for the love of their subjects. But that was not the queens only worry. Selene grew up to be a beautiful young woman, while the queen grew older. The queen could not bare looking into Selene's beautiful face every day and decided to kill her stepdaughter. She knew though, that killing her on the palace would only cause her subjects to revolt against her. She sent Selene into the forest to gather some herbs and plants and sent one of her guards with her to kill her in the dark of the forest.'

Basil's voice became quiet and raspy as she told the tale of the princess and how the guard could not kill her because he could not kill a woman so fair and so good hearted.

‚He told the princess to run and to never come back to the kingdom. Selene ran into the deep forest and did not stop until she stood in front of a small cottage. She knocked, but nobody answered. The shadows and noises of the forest scared her, so she entered the cottage and closed the door behind her. What the princess saw, took her breath away. The cottage was simply one big room with a dirty kitchen and small beds. Selene found seven plates, seven forks, seven knifes, seven spoons, seven bowls, seven cups and seven beds. The beds were so small that Selene knew who lived in that cottage. Dwarves.'

‚Dwarves?' Thorins eyes widened. He had not seen that coming. ‚Why do these dwarves live in a cottage in the woods? Dwarves live under a mountain.'

‚These do not. It is my story.' Basil smirked teasingly. ‚Selene felt guilty for disturbing their home and began to clean up. It took her the whole day to clean the kitchen and she even made a nice stew for the owners of this cottage. By nightfall, Selene was so exhausted that she fell asleep in one of the small beds. She had to curl up to fit into the bed, but she did not care. It took only a moment for her to fall asleep. She dreamt of her father and the day he died. She dreamt of the horrible noises in the dark forest and the face of her stepmother. She was so afraid, more afraid than she had ever been in her life – until she heard voices in her sleep. Kind voices, but also voices full of surprise and mistrust. „Who ate from my plate?", „Who cooked?", „Who drank out of my cup?", „Who used my fork?"..."Who is this in my bed?". The last question made Selene open her eyes. She looked into a bearded face with stunning blue eyes and a deep frown. Selene sat up and crawled back from the dwarf in whose bed she had been sleeping. His frown scared her, but she took her time to look him over. He was tall for a dwarf and he had only a short beard, neatly groomed. Long black wavy hair framed his face, a handsome face, with a straight nose and high cheekbones. His eyes were the bluest she had ever seen. Although he frowned and glared at her, she could see that his heart was a kind one.'

‚How?' Thorin interrupted her. Basil needed a moment to catch his question, for she had been caught in her own story.

‚What do you mean?' Basil asked and looked down at her husband.

‚How could she tell that he had a kind heart?' Thorin asked and looked back into his wife's eyes. Of course, he had drawn parallels to their first meeting from Basil's story. He also knew that the dwarf she described was supposed to be himself, even if he sometimes forgot that females seemed to find him quite handsome. He had never cared for such things as his own looks, he had always looked for beauty elsewhere.

‚It is not what you see with your eyes, my king.' Basil softly told him. ‚Sometimes you have to see things with your heart. This dwarf was a kind soul and Selene relaxed against the headboard. Another dwarf stepped forward and warmly smiled at her. He was short and had a bushy white beard. He introduced himself as Wise and introduced the other dwarves as well. There was a friendly looking dwarf with a hat, called Happy. A round dwarf with a long red beard, called Hungry. A silver haired dwarf with a braided beard, called Amad. A bald and huge dwarf, called Brutal. And a young dwarf with mittens, called Shy. The dwarf with the black hair and blue eyes, who was still staring at Basil, was called Grumpy.'

Thorin snorted as Basil introduced him to the seven dwarves of the story. Balin, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Dwalin, Ori and himself.

‚Grumpy, huh?' Thorin smiled and sat up. He missed the warmth of Basil's lap, but he had to move. He was tired, but he wanted to hear the rest of the story. Little did he know that Basil had seen the exhaustion in his face when he had returned and had prepared a cup with wine and the sleeping potion. Now, she gave him the wine and watched as he drank it.

Basil felt bad about drugging Thorin, but the last days had shown her that the goldsickness was far from defeated. She had given him the sleeping potion that evening, knowing that her story had awaken his interest. With a little luck, he would not kill her when he found out, because he would want to hear the end of the story. Basil knew that this obsession with her stories was unnatural, but it was one of the positive side effects of the goldsickness, one that helped her. She watched as Thorin's eyes grew heavy and he sat back against the headboard. The cup fell out of Thorin's hands and the king finally fell into a deep slumber. Oin had promised her, that the potion would make the king sleep for at least half a day. Basil would use that period of time to get some sleep herself. She cuddled up at Thorin's side, wishing that she could do that when he was awake, before she fell into a dreamless sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Thorin woke up, feeling relaxed and safely warm for the first time since he had reclaimed Erebor. Taking a deep breath, he stretched and opened his eyes. He was in bed and Basil was sprawled against his chest. Her hand touched his chest and her face was pressed into his shoulder. His right arms was numb, for it lay under her, pressing her close. He could feel her curves against his body and could feel his blood starting to boil. Then he remembered what had happened.

Basil was woken up as the arm under her was pulled back with a hoarse cry. Startled, she tried to blink the sleep away and looked into Thorin's furious face.

Apparently, her husband had realised what she had done and Basil almost awaited a blow. Thorin was furious, his blue eyes wide and his handsome face clenched into an angry grimace. But there was no hatred in his eyes, only the look of hurt and disappointment.

'You drugged me!' Thorin yelled at her and looked down at his wife in fury. He showed no intention of hurting her, unlike the last time when she had revealed her treason. Nevertheless, he scared Basil and made her retreat to her side of the bed.

'Apparently not enough.' Basil murmured. She decided that bravery and courage were her only chance. 'You look rested, my king.'

'I will have your head for this treachery!' Thorin growled and advanced on Basil now, grabbing her arm and pressing her against the headboard of their bed.

'You claimed my hand in marriage after my last treachery. Will you claim my life now, like all your wives before me?' Basil knew that only a charge forward might save her. 'You do feel better now, do you, my king?'

Thorin paused and frowned deeply. He felt fury about this treacherous move, but he had to admit that he did feel better than in years. His head was clearer and did not ache and he felt more at peace. He looked down at Basil, whose arm he had grabbed in an iron grip. He would leave bruises, of this he was sure. Grinding his teeth in regret, Thorin pulled back and fled from their room, without looking back. Her action reminded him of her theft of the arkenstone, she had been sneaky and treacherous then, as well. Nobody, not even his own family had realised how much the hobbit's treason had hurt him back then and how much it hurt again. Clad in only his simple brown tunic and black trousers, her fled to the treasury, the only place where he deemed to find peace. But as he had arrived in the vast hall full of gold, he only felt more alone than ever. Faint whispers grew louder in his mind, whispering of treason and the weakness of females. What he had feared most had happened – his wife had betrayed him. The one wife whom he had trusted. The whispers grew unbearable and Thorin shook his head to clear his mind. Another voice echoed in his mind, but this time it was his own. Basil had not betrayed him. She had not stolen from him and she had not tried to kill him. On the contrary, she had given him a night of peace and plenty; plenty of rest. How was that a bad thing?

Thorin began to pace in irritation. He had barely felt that insecure and unsure in his life. He had always known what to do. Even after Smaug had taken their home from them, Thorin had known what to do. He had led his people to safety in the Blue Mountains and had built a new home for them. He had laboured as a blacksmith for the wellbeing of his people and he had never longed for the love and warmth of a partner who could share his needs, trouble, worry, but also happiness. He had lived his life for a higher cause than his right to the throne, he had lived for his people.

Thorin knew that his life had completely changed by now. He was not the great king he had wanted to be. He was a mad king and his peole looked upon him in fear and worry. The sorrow and pity in the eyes of his former company was even worse. Thorin had torn every bond to most of the loyal dwarves of his company, out of fear and guilt. He could not bear their eyes on him and he could not bear to disappoint them, again. He missed the friendship and the faithful trust of his former friends.

That day on the lookout over the gates, he had lost everything. His honor, his company, his burglar, his friends and family; and himself. Fury about his own weakness and his troubled mind flodded Thorin's guts. He felt disgusted and ashamed.

Thorin straightened his back as he remembered the daily routine of his people. The miners were already working in the mines, in fact, they never ceased to work in the mines. The guards would exchange shifts in this very moment and some patrols would be sent out to the borders of his lands. Azog's army has been destroyed, but rogue packs of orcs were still roaming the free lands. Thorin clenched his hands to fists. He needed to kill something in his present mood, but even in his delirious mind, he swore that it would not be Basil.

#

'How dare she?' Thorin grumbled into his beard while he walked to the gates clad in his armor. He had sent a servant to the royal chambers to get his armor and some clothes, for he was still angry at Basil and did not want to do something stupid in his rage. He had decided to accompany Dwalin and his patrol this morning. He had to get away – from everything.

Dwalin and his few guards exchanged worried glances. The king had ordered them to take him with them on their daily patrol. His expression was murderous and even Dwalin did not dare to talk to him until they had left the mountain. It was the first time that Thorin had left the mountain since the great battle. Once again, Dwalin asked himself how Basil had managed that. He looked at his king and noticed that he looked furious, but more like himself than in all the months before. Indeed, Thorin was back to his moody and grumpy self this morning and Dwalin felt more at ease after they had left Dale behind. As Thorin grumbled into his beard again, Dwalin decided to intervene.

'You wanna talk to a friend instead of to you beard, your majesty?' Dwalin asked as nonchalant as he could and smirked as Thorin snorted.

'I need to kill something.' Thorin grumbled and scared Dwalin to death. At first. 'I would like to go for elves, but I guess some orcs will do.'

The faint humor in Thorin's voice made Dwalin jerk his head towards his friend and king. He bit his tongue before he could state the obvious, that the queen was at least still alive.

'What made you...get in such a mood?' Dwalin asked, although he already knew the answer.

'Basil.' Thorin grinded his teeth. 'The queen overstepped her boundaries. Again.'

'But, she is still alive.' this time, Dwalin had not been able to shut his mouth quick enough and grunted. But Thorin only smiled bitterly.

'This is why I am here with you, my friend.' Thorin's smile grew wider as he saw his old friend pale. 'Let's crack some orc skulls.'

#

'Well, let's see it from the bright side.' Bofur chewed on the mouthpiece of his pipe. 'He did not kill you.'

'Very funny.' Basil stated dryly, but smiled.

She had missed Bofur, who had been her closest friend within the company during their quest. After her marriage to Thorin, she had not seen Bofur very often, for she could not leave her chambers. She missed her freedom and she missed her friends, but at least some of her friends paid her a visit once in a while when Thorin was not there.

'You made it, lass.' Bofur remarked. 'You have survived, that is more than the queens before you could tell.'

'Why did he kill them, Bofur?' Basil shook her head. 'He may be mad, but he is no murderer.'

'Balin said that Thorin accused them of attempted murder. Apparently, they tried to murder him in their wedding night. Both of them. Balin also said that they seemed out of their mind as Thorin gave the order to have them excecuted.' Bofur shuddered as he remembered the screams of the queens in the night. They had not been normal.

'Do you believe that this was the truth?' Basil asked, but Bofur shook his head again.

'I do not know what to believe anymore, lass.' he stated sadly. 'Thorin does not see what he has become. But we do and we suffer for him. That is why I mostly stay in the mines, there I cannot see the misery.'

Basil took her friend's hand and squeezed it. She could understand how he felt, for Thorin had been his friend as well.

'Oin told me that you drugged him last night.' Bofur stood up and started to pace up and down in front of the fireplace. 'I acually came here to ask you if you were out of your mind!'

'Oh, is this the reason why my dear friend visited me after all this time?' Basil could not help to be snarky.

'I am your friend, Basil. That is why I worry about you. Thorin is dangerous. It is a miracle that he did not kill you this morning, in fact, we all would like to know how you managed to survive.' it was the first time that Basil saw her friend glare at her.

'I reached him, Bofur. The real Thorin that is.' Basil told him. 'Thorin is still in there somewhere. I have fled from him the last time, but I will not flee now.'

'You do not have to do this, Basil.' Bofur pleaded. 'You should leave as long as you have the chance.'

'Thorin once spoke of loyalty, honor and a willing heart when he was in Bag End.' Basil remembered. 'He found this in me, but I forgot all of it as I turned my back on him. I am not a person to run when things get comlicated.'

'This is not complicated, this is madness.' Bofur stated dryly. 'Literally.'

'Then Thorin and I make a good couple, do we not?' Basil sighed and leaned back in her armchair.

#

'What do you mean with you have not had any?' Dwalin roared and made Thorin roll his eyes.

'A little bit louder, Dwalin, I think the guards have not heard you.' Thorin remarked, but smirked into his beard. It relaxed him to talk to his friend again like they had years ago and he had to thank Basil for it.

Behind them, one of the younger guards leaned over to his comrade and asked what the king did not have had, but he was silenced by a slap to the back of his head.

'You...no wonder that you need to...blow off some steam.' Dwalin shook his head. 'What did you do at night then? Wait! I do not want to know!'

'Well...' Thorin started, but Dwalin waved with his hands in the air.

'I said I do not want to know.' the huge warrior covered his ears with his palms. 'Nah.'

The guards jumped in their saddles as they heard their king roar of laughter. Thorin felt his face ache as he began to grin like a small dwarfling again. All the anger about Basil's supposed treachery was blown away. He even planned to reward Basil for her courage tonight, but he did not know how. He longed for her, especially since he had woken up in her arms this morning. But he would not force himself on her, when she did not want it herself.

'Thorin?' Dwalin's alarmed voice jerked him out of his daydream.

Thorin looked at the captain of the guard with a startled expression. 'What?'

'Orcs!' Dwalin had to hold back a smirk. 'Over. There.'

Thorin followed his gaze and saw a smaller orc pack at the edge of Ravenhill. His gut clenched as he remembered what had happened there last. He had lost his nephews there, they had died by his side, fighting for all their lives.

'This might be a trap.' Thorin whispered, but Dwalin shook his head.

'Azog is dead, his son as well. The only orcs left are wandering the wild in small rogue packs. They are no match for us.'

'They outnumber us five to one.' Thorin remarked with a sly grin. 'We need a plan.'

'I was thinking about simply crashing their defenses, yelling the crap outta them and pumping our chest to scare them to death. Like last time.' Dwalin grinned brightly. Today, life was good.


	12. Chapter 12

'Thorin, forgive me, but I needed to...oh Yavanna!' Basil had waited unpatiently until the patrol was back under the mountain. She had tried to get out of her cambers, but the loyal guards had crossed their spears in front of the door. Now that she heard steps, Basil started to apologise as soon as the door to their rooms opened, but gasped as she saw a half conscious Thorin being dragged into their rooms by Dwalin. 'What happened?'

Thorin had a small gash on his forehead, close to his hairline and was bleeding heavily. The wide grin on his face did not match the injury.

'This was the best day I had in a long time!' Thorin sighed happily as Dwalin made him sit down on the bed and barked for Oin through the open door.

'Do not worry, lassie.' in his hurry, Dwalin adressed Basil without her title, but she did not mind. She only cared for Thorin. 'We had a little squirmish with some orcs. They are dead, we are not. I had to give Thorin some wine to calm him down though or he would not have let me drag him back. He was anxious to kill em all...why are ya looking at me like that?'

'You...you gave him wine?' Basil knew that the herbs she had used would be reactivated by alcohol within the next hours, so she had not planned to give Thorin any ale or wine today. But of course, Dwalin had not known. 'You drugged him as well!'

'I did not drug – wait, what do you mean with „as well"?' Dwalin cocked an eyebrow at her. Suddenly, Thorin's words made sense to him. According to the king, the queen had overstepped her boundaries. 'You...drugged him?'

Dwalin looked at Basil with wide eyes and then looked at Thorin who had collapsed onto the mattress with a loopsided grin. The king did not take any notice of the heated discussion between his guard and his queen. Basil closed her eyes as Dwalin yelled his next sentence into her face and made her shorter curls fly.

'Are you out of your hobbity mind?' Dwalin roared.

'Oi! This is the queen you are yelling at!' Balin and Oin were standing in the door. 'Show some respect.'

'She drugged the king!' Dwalin was horrified. 'And I did not know and drugged him again! Mahal's beard, he will kill us when he wakes up, there are not enough orcs in Middle Earth to divert his wrath from us!'

'Breathe, brother.' Balin smirked while Oin was inspecting the head wound of a meanwhile snoring Thorin.

'This was not what I meant with „help him"!' Dwalin glared at Basil. 'He was in a really sour mood this morning...turned out to be a great day, though.'

While Dwalin looked surprised about his own statement, Basil pressed her fists to her hips.

'A great day?' she sneered. 'An orc got Thorin. He is injured. How is is a great day?'

'Nah, no orc can crack that rockhead of his.' Dwalin smirked. 'And we talked...we have not talked like this in years.'

'Is that why the poor lad out there is that traumatised?' Balin pointed to the door and to the young guard who had overheard Thorin's and Dwalin's talk. The guard looked at his boots and the grip on his spear was like iron. He did glance at Thorin and Basil once in a while, only to blush and look down again.

'It is nothing serious.' Oin yelled through the room. 'The bleeding already stopped, but he will need rest. I trust that you do not need more – herbs – my queen?'

As Basil looked at Dwalin and shook her head sheepishly, Oin made back to the infirmary with a chuckling Balin on his heels. But before Balin left, he pointed to a bowl of water with sliced lemons, which Basil used to clean her hands before she made meals.

'I would not touch Thorin after you washed your hands in that.' Balin smiled at her. 'The king is highly allergic to lemons.'

Basil frowned as the dwarves left her behind with her unconscious husband. Dwalin had lifted Thorin onto the bed and Oin had covered him with a fur before they had left. Now, Basil only had to wait until Thorin woke up, probably with a severe hang over. And as if all of this was not enough, she craved for a cool glass of home made lemonade.

#

Thorin woke up with a massive headache and with the usual dark whispers in his head. He groaned and covered his eyes before he even opened them. These furious whispers were driving him mad, whispering about the arkenstone, his gold and treason by all his loved ones. The day was a blur, Thorin remembered to have laughed alot – but it was as if it had happened in a dream. Now, he could think of nothing more than going to the treasury and to his gold. His teasure.

As he sat up, his gaze fell on Basil, who was preparing a meal while humming. Thorin leaned back onto his hands and watched as Basil cut some fresh slices of bread and put a plate of cheese and fruits onto the table. Her hands were moving elegantly and softly and Thorin wondered how they might feel on his body, moving through his chest hair and stroking over his arms and shoulders. He stiffened as he realised where his thoughts were drifting off to. He had thought of his gold, but one glance at his wife had diverted his thoughts. A part of him was relieved that his obsession seemed to fade, but the other part – the still stronger part – was furious about the diversion. His wife; his treacherous wife; tried to lure him from his gold and most importantly – the arkenstone. He had barely laid eyes upon his heirlom since he had married Basil. It struck him that he had barely spend time in his treasury anymore since his wedding. Today, he had even wasted his time outside of the mountain and had left his gold unattended! Thorin threw back the fur covering him and rushed past Basil and into the bathroom. It took a while for him to clean himself up and he did not even notice his headwound in the mirror before he walked out again. The adrenalin from the fight with the orcs had faded long ago and his body and mind fell under the dark spell of the gold again.

Basil was staring at him as he emerged from the bathroom with an unreadable expression. She was holding a cup of tea and apparently waited for him to join her for dinner.

'Do not wait for me.' Thorin growled and walked to the door. 'I will be in the treasury.'

'Why?' Basil asked softly and made Thorin pause in the doorway.

'Because...I want to be there.' Thorin answered after a while. The warm thoughts about Basil from that day were blown away. The longing for his gold grew stronger than the longing for his wife. He also forgot that he had wanted to thank Basil for her courage. His mind was simply blank.

'You rather spend time with the cold golden coins and jewels than with your wife?' Basil muttered and winced as Thorin turned around with a murderous expression.

'My loving wife...' he sneered, but walked back into the room.

Basil could see the guards in front of the door stiffen, only waiting for the king to lose his temper.

'My loving wife, who tried to poison me.' Thorin´s eyes had turned to slits and the pupils had become dark.

'I did not...' Basil tried, but Thorin cut her short.

'My loving wife who betrayed me – again!' Thorin ran the last few feet towards Basil and towered her. The mad part of him felt grim satisfaction about the scared look in Basil's eyes. 'Tell me, why should I not crush your little treacherous body between my fingers?'

Basil began to shake. 'Thorin, this is not you...'

'This is me.' Thorin growled and cornered Basil against the wall. 'This. Is. Me. Basil. The dwarf you married. The king under the mountain. You even once called me the king of your heart.'

'Once.' Basil felt tears fill her eyes. 'Once, when you were Thorin Oakenshield.'

'I am not the mere Thorin Oakenshield anymore. No lowly lord of dwarves.' Thorin clenched is jaw.

'He was the one I loved.' Basil told him and closed her eyes to prevent her tears from falling. 'Not the mad king, who is standing before me now.'

Thorin frowned even deeper and let out a sigh. The wrenching pain in his head grew stronger and he felt incredibly tired. 'And this is why I will not stay here with you.'

Thorin turned away from Basil again, making for the door in determined steps.

Basil slid down against the wall. She was desperate and had lost faith. She had tried everything to lure Thorin away from his gold and to cure him from his sickness. Weeks had passed since their wedding and she had not achieved anything, only a few minor reliefs which lasted only a few moments. She felt worthless and like a failure. Not only had she walked right into this prison, she had also failed her husband. They were both prisoners, Thorin of his own mind and Basil in her marriage. Erebor was their prison, a dark and cold mountain with no escape, at least not alive. Basil moved her hands into her short locks, which finally reached her shoulders again after she had cut them. She tugged at her curls and sobbed into her arms. Thorin´s expression had scared her more than his threats. His eyes had been cold and distant and she remembered the way he had looked at her above the gates all those years ago, full of hatred, hurt and disappointment. She did not want to remember, she wanted to move on. She needed to move on.

Thorin turned around at the door and saw his wife sitting on the cold floor, tears streaming down her face and her lovely hands burried in her hair. His expression was unreadable and his frown was too familliar. The two guards had snapped into attention and waited for his orders.

'Double the guards at the door.' Thorin told them coldly. 'The queen will not leave these chambers.'

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and waited until the additional guards were there. His cool demeanor made Basil´s anger rise. All the strain and worry of the last months overflowed her mind and made her forget all boundaries. Something inside of her snapped and gave her new strength. Basil stood up and walked to the table, grabbing a lemon.

As the new guards came, Thorin turned to the door, but was hit by something on the back of his head on his way out. He looked down and saw a lemon roll over the floor.

'Suck on a lemon!' Basil shouted after him as the door closed behind him.

Thorin froze and looked at the guards, who tried to look anywhere, but at their king. The young guard who had overheard Thorin and Dwalin talk gripped his spear even harder as Thorin started to grin and walked back into his rooms. The guard prayed to Mahal that the queen would survive that grin.

##################################

To my guest reviewer Sour: Thank you so much for your review! I answer it on here, because I think that you had many valid points, which would also interest other readers:

Like you and many others stated correctly, it is a slow process of healing and there will be many disappointments, for both, Basil and Thorin. For one step forwards, the reader might feel that it takes two steps back in the next chapter; but that is how curing people from a sickness of the mind works in my head (Thank Goodness, I have made no personal experience in that area).  
>About Basil's retelling of Snow White: I do plan to change the storyline a bit ;) but I will not tell right now. That would ruin the tension ^^ Basil tries to reach the real Thorin with her stories, much of the plot is planned by her, but she will als react t Thorin's mood and reactions.<p>

I try to not make my stories predictable and I hope that I am succeeding with it, especially when I read all the lovely reviews. I will take this opportunity to thank all my readers and reviewers, I love you guys and I love writing for you! :)


	13. Chapter 13

Basil had turned away from the door and panted furiously, her hands pressed to her hips. She did not hear Thorin come back into the room and squeaked loudly as something soft hit the back of her head. As she turned around, she saw one of her biscuits roll over the floor and saw Thorin stand a few feet behind her with a kilish grin on his face. It pained a bit to see the similarity between the king and his dead nephew, but Basil was more surprised by Thorin's reaction. She would have expected everything from his hands around her neck again to loud yelling; but not this.

'Now I see where your nephews learned that.' Basil stated dryly and paled as she saw Thorins' grin disappear at the mention of his nephews.

The king's expression turned sad and Basil wanted to bite her tongue off. But instead, she walked forward and softly cupped Thorin's face.

Thorin felt his heart skip a beat as Basil's lips softly brushed his. Everything was forgotten, the goldsickness, their fight, his nephews...there was only Basil and her lips on his. Slowly, Thorin began to react to the kiss and moved his hands to Basil's waist and her lower back deepen the kiss. Basil opened her mouth for some air, but nothing more than a moan came out of her mouth as Thorin started licking her upper lip. All worry fell from her as Thorin´s tongue entered her mouth and passionately dominated hers. Basil closed her eyes and simply melted into Thorin´s arms.

Thorin´s knees grew weak as he felt Basil leaning into the kiss with her whole body; softly molding against him. The moan that came out of her parted lips urged him on and soon, one of his hands cupped her face while the other pressed her harder against him. He had not planned it like this. A furious passion had overtaken him as Basil had thrown the lemon at him and he had wanted to punish her. But this punishment turned out to be a real surprise for both of them. Thorin had not realised how much he had longed for Basil; not for her body or her soft touch – for her love. The fact that Basil seemed to enjoy the kiss despite of their past and their fight showed Thorin that she loved him, more than anything; even more than her safety. Thorin remembered how often Basil had saved his life in the past, during their quest and during the battle. And now, she was here to save him again. Thorin felt a warm tingle in his heart and purred all of this feeling into the kiss.

Basil´s stomach suddenly began to grumble loudly and that broke the magic spell of the kiss.

Thorin slowly parted his lips from Basil´s and looked down at his wife, whose face was blushed and lips were red and swollen from the kiss.

'Hungry?' he asked, his voice hoarse and rumbling.

'A little.' Basil sighed apologetically.

'Then we should eat.' Thorin smiled and reluctantly walked back to the table.

Basil followed and sat down slowly. She did not know what to think about the whole situation. In one moment, Thorin was the mad king she had married, in the other, he seemed to be the old Thorin she had loved. Basil was more than confused. She was about to ask Thorin how he was feeling as the door burst open and Dwalin and Ori rushed in. Dwalin was holding his warhammer and Ori swung the biggest book Basil had ever seen. It was the book about dwarven tax law.

'Get ya hands off...oh.' Dwalin froze in midyelling and Ori squeaked as he ran into Dwalin.

'Master Dwalin, master Ori, can we help you?' Thorin asked with an amused frown. The good mood from his kiss with Basil held on and made him feel relaxed and happy, at leats for now.

'We thought...I was...and Ori was about to...so we...' Dwalin stuttered and Ori gave him a quick nudge with the book. 'We thought that you were about to – do something to Basil. Our hobbit. Burglar. Queen. Ya kow – her.'

Dwalin awkwardly pointed at Basil and Ori rolled his eyes.

'This would be the perfect moment to fake a heart attack or actually getting one.' Ori muttered. 'Excuse me, your majesties, but after the incident this morning, we thought it wise to – have an eye on...things.'

'Everything is fine, Ori, Dwalin.' Basil hurried to say. 'Thank you for your concern, but I guess we...sorted it out.'

'Indeed.' the dreamy smile on Thorin´s face scared the living daylight out of Dwalin and Ori.

'Alright...then we should...' Dwalin swung his warhammer to and forth at his side.

'Leave.' Ori blinked and bowed to the royal couple. The small scribe tugged at the guard captain´s tunic and pushed him out.

Basil and Thorin only looked at each other and grinned.

Outside, Dwalin and Ori only lookd at each other and frowned.

'That was...surreal.' Ori remarked dryly andDwalin shrugged his shoulders.

Turning to the guards, he gave his orders. 'If you hear screaming from in there, do not hesitate to break down the door.'

The young guard looked so terrified that even Dwalin nearly had to laugh. 'I mean it. This had gone far enough.'

'It has.' Ori sighed and shoved the heavy book into Dwalin's arms. 'Here, you carry it back.'

The guards only slightly shook their heads as the captain of the guard nodded and followed the small scribe down the corridor.

#

'So? Did Grumpy screw it up with the princess?' Thorin asked timidly as he helped Basil to clean the table after their meal. 'He is a stubborn dwarf after all. Selene should go for her Prince Charming.'

'A Prince Charming?' Basil smiled.

She put down the last bowl and decided that she would have time to wash it all tomorrow, today was story time.

'Selene and the dwarves lived in the tiny cottage for many months. The dwarves left for the mines every morning and came home every evening before sunset. While they were laboring in the mines, Selene cleaned and cooked, sewed them new clothes and enjoyed her freedom. She walked through the forest, made friends with the beasts and relished in the warming sun. But the evenings were her favorite. She liked taking care of the dwarves, they had become the family she had never had. The dwarves loved her food and had even cleared out one of the rooms for her. They had made her a longer bed and even put a flower in the window still every day. Selene gave everyone of the dwarves a kiss on the nose every morning when they left and a smile every evening when they returned. Her stepmother's wrath was forgotten and she did not even think of her old home. But her stepmother had not forgotten her. One day, she dreamed about a beautiful woman, who lived in the woods and looked exactly like her supposedly dead stepdaughter. That dream haunted her for days until she decided to seek the matter for herself. She also prepared a poisonous apple, which was so red and beautiful that everyone would be tempted to eat it. The evil queen vanished into the woods, dressed as an old beggar woman and soon found the cottage. There, she heard Selene sing and recognised the sweet voice. In her rage, the evil queen caused a thunderstorm that was so strong that trees bent, rock slid and rivers overflowed. The dwarves were cut off from home and stuck inside of the mine. During that time, the queen could take care of her problem. Selene, who had seen the old woman out there in the thunderstorm, invited her in and offered her shelter. As a sign of gratitude, the old woman gave her the red apple. Selene, good hearted and gentle as she was, did not see the malice in the queen´s eyes and bit into it, filling her mouth with the poison. It only took her one bite to collaps onto the wooden floor of the cottage. The queen let out a hysterical laugh and vanished back into the night, leaving her supposedly dead stepdaughter on the floor. Two days later, the dwarves had managed to dig their way out of the mines and headed home. They were worried sick and rushed to the cottage faster than ever; but they were still to late. Grumpy, who stormed into the cottage first, let out a tortured cry as he saw the lifeless Selene on the floor, her body cold and her face pale. She was not dead, only sleeping, but she did not wake up for several days, which turned to weeks, which turned to months. The dwarves crowded around Selene´s bed, but there was nothing they could do anymore; only one thing. They build a sarcophagus out of glass and laid Selene into it. They would place it by their cottage and guard it; Selene was their greatest treasure. Months passed, which turned to years and still Selene did not wake up. But one day, a grey wanderer passed the cottage and saw the sleeping princess and the grieving dwarves. He could not take the evil spell from the princess, but he knew what could; a true love´s kiss. He also knew where to find a matching prince. He told the dwarves where to bring her to and then left again. The dwarves lost no time and picked up the heavy sarcophagus, taking shifts in carrying it, over days and days. They took longer than planned, because Grumpy had taken the lead and got lost – twice.' Basil smiled as Thorin laughed at that last part. She had seen the grief in his face as she had spoken about how Grumpy had found Selene and decided to change a bit of the story. The ending.

'Finally, they found the prince´s kingdom and presented the princess to her future husband. The prince was all a princess could ever look for, he was tall, had long and blond hair and blue eyes. His aim with the bow was unbeaten and he was swift as the wind. His father was the king of the northern woods and only let the dwarves enter as he laid eyes on the beauty they were carrying. Grumpy decided to let Wise take over the negociations, for he had no talent in diplomatic relations – and I mean none.' Basil grinned at Thorin who only gave her an apologetical look. ‚The prince would kiss the princess back to life and the dwarves would leave her with him. They would go back to their cottage and live their lives like they had before meeting Selene. Of course, this was a hard decision for the dwarves loved her deeply, but it was the prize for her life. The prince came forward and elegantly leaned over the sacrophagus. The kiss was soft and gentle and the sun shone brighter while their lips touched. But Selene did not wake up.'

'What?' Thorin's outburst made Basil jump. 'Why did it not work?'

Basil smiled at her husband and handed him his crown. 'The sun just rose, it is time for council. I will tell you the end of the story this evening.'

Thorin was about to protest, but his lips were sealed by a soft kiss. As Basil pulled back, all protest was forgotten. With a sigh, Thorin walked out of the royal chambers and past the guards, who leaned against the doorframes, snoring.


	14. Chapter 14

'Wise, Happy!' Thorin walked over to Balin and Bofur, who look back at him with confused expressions. 'I mean...Balin and Bofur. A word.'

Thorin shook his head in amusement, while Balin and Bofur followed him with deep frowns on their faces. The did not trust the peace. Thorin had been in a wonderful mood all day and Dwalin had interrogated the guards of the royal wings wether that was because he had killed his queen again or because of...other things. The young guard had even asked to be transfered to another duty that day.

'How can we be of service, my king?' Balin asked carefully and exchanged a worried look with Bofur.

'I want the royal quarters to be rebuild.' Thorin told them and waited for a reply. It took a while before he got one.

'Is something not to your liking, your majesty?' Bofur asked and hoped that the rooms were still in one piece. Thorin could have terrible temper at times. He also hoped that Thorin did not want to refurnish the rooms to add an additional wall to hide the corpses of his wivess in.

'No.' Thorin shook his head. 'Bofur, you remember how Bag End looked like? Get Ori´s help if you need it, he might be able to draw some scetches.'

'I...' Bofur shook his head to clear his mind. The king´s words made no sense to him. 'Yes, I remember Bag End.'

'Good.' Thorin then looked at Balin. 'I need the best craftsmen of this kingdom and I need them as quickly as possible.'

'May I ask, my king, for what you need their services?' Balin finally asked and Thorin started to smile like a small dwarfling with a plan.

'I want to turn my quarters into a hobbit home like Bag End. I know that I cannot bring Basil´s home to this mountain, but I can try.' Thorin then realised that both Balin and Bofur looked at him with wide eyes and without blinking. 'What? Get cracking, we need a round door!'

#

'I wish Dis was here.' Ori sighed as he made room in his chambers.

'Why, so that she could kill Thorin dead and take his place?' Dwalin grumbled and stood in the middle off the room, unsure where to place the dozen pillows he was holding.

'No.' Ori threw another pillow at him. 'Dis would have invited Basil over for a few days without having to come up with some stupid cover story.'

'You had a nice cover story.' Dwalin told him. 'You told her that you needed to write your journal about the quest and that you needed help. She bought it.'

'Yes, but now I really have to write this journal! Do you even know how much work that is? And she seemed sad about leaving her rooms for so long. And I thought that she would feel like a prisoner confined to her rooms.' Ori mused. 'And you have to move out.'

'Your brothers do not even know that I moved in.' Dwalin grumbled and set the pillows down in the armchair. 'I always have to hide my battle axes, my knives and my comb. Thank goodness for dwarven secret doors.'

'It is only for a week.' Ori smiled at Dwalin and sighed. 'Only one long week.'

#

Basil accepted Ori's invitation, but only very reluctantly. Only after Thorin had told her that he would visit the Iron Hills for a week, Basil agreed to stay away from their chambers. She had been worried that Thorin would fall back into his old behaviour and would spend his days in the treasury without her waiting for him in their chambers. Their kiss had been wonderful and Basil had noticed that Thorin seemed much more like himself with much relief. He was not back to his old self by far, but the mad gleam in his eyes had diminished.

'Will you visit your cousin?' Basil asked Thorin as they packed.

Thorin nodded and tried to control his excitment. He would spend one night in the Iron Hills and then return to Erebor to supervise the rebuilding of his chambers; their chambers. He had never cared about his rooms, he had always lived in a very spartanic way, even before the dragon came. But coming to Bag End had awaken something in him, a wish for a home, a place to recoil to when the harsh reality became overbearing. He could not leave the mountain, his gold, his treasury. Thorin froze and frowned about his thoughts. Did he do this for Basil or for himself?

'Thorin?' Thorin jumped as Basil touched his lower arm. 'You seem to be very far away.'

Thorin was about to tell her about his thoughts and worries, but he did not feel ready. 'Did you meet Dain after...the battle?'

'No.' Basil looked down at her hand on his arm. 'I left...after...'

Basil bit her togue, but Thorin nodded in understanding. He had last seen Basil over the gates of Erebor, he had followed her hurried steps as she had run towards Gandalf, who had saved her from the mad king's grasp. He had been told that Basil had lingered throughout the battle and had fought for him, but had disappeared a few days after the battle. Balin had told him that she only left after they had told her that Thorin would survive and that she had cried bitter tears for Fili and Kili.

'Maybe, one day, you will tell me a story. About your family? Our family.' Basil asked timidly.

'I am no good story teller.' Thorin sighed, although Basil's words warmed his heart. 'Have you finished packing?'

'Yes.' Basil took her small pack. It was the same bag she had taken for the quest.

'Then we should leave.' Thorin tried a smile and took her arm. He looked back into his dark rooms and hoped that they would return to new ones which would be the start of a new home.

#

Dain had been surprised to see his cousin, especially since Thorin seemed better than last time they had met. Thorin had been crowned king that day and had not taken his eyes from the arkenstone above the throne. The mad gleam in his eyes had scared Dain more than the army of orcs and goblins had. Now, Thorin was standing before him and was babbling about some alterations of his rooms. At the same time, the new queen of Erebor, Thorin's hobbit, had sent him a raven, asking him to keep Thorin safe and away from anything golden. Plus, she politely asked him to send a raven to Erebor, should Thorin come back.

Dain shook his head about the hobbit queen. She had to be more brave than any dwarf, to walk into the lion's den like she had. And now, she even tried to save her husband. He would be damned if he would not help her with that. Dain was a warrior and he hated himself for the fact that he feared his cousin too much to intervene himself. But he would support the queen, if it was the last thing he did.

Meanwhile, in Erebor, Basil helped Ori write the journal. Ori took Basil's suggestion for a title, „There and Back again". They wrote, talked and laughed alot and Basil felt relaxed and happy. Only the worry for Thorin soured her mood.

During the second day, Basil leaned back against the bed as Ori was writing about the trolls. Her hands moved over the floor until they brushed over something metallic. Curiously, Basil pulled it out from under the bed and looked down at the object in her hand. It was one of Dwalin's knucklebands.

'Ori?' Basil had to fight to hold back her grin. 'What is this?'

'What is whaaaaa...?' Ori gasped as he saw what Basil was holding. 'That is - ehmmmm...a knuckleband...ehmmm...mine.'

'Yours?' now Basil was grinning. 'Ori, this would fit over two of your hands. I have seen this one on Dwalin during our quest.'

Ori's face had turned bright red and he had problems breathing. Basil took his arm and squeezed it reassuringly.

'Ori, do not panic.' she smiled warmly. 'I will not tell Dori and Nori.'

'What will yo not tell them? Ah,screw it - you promise?' Ori looked at her with big eyes. 'Dwalin is the most fierce warrior under the mountain, but if Dori finds out about us...he will cut off Dwalin's ...uhm, you know.'

'But, you will have to tell them one day.' Basil could understand Ori's fear. Dori could be terrifying when one threatened his sibblings.

'Nope. We will just hide until Dori and Nori die of old age.' Ori shook his head.

'Ori – Dwalin is older than Dori.' Basil grinned as Ori sighed and nodded. 'Are you sure that your brothers would not be happy for you and Dwalin?'

'Yes.' Ori stated immediately and made Basil laugh.

The merry evening was disturbed by a guard who brought Basil a letter.

'Your majesty. A raven from the Iron Hills brought this.' after a short bow, the guard gave Basil the letter and disappeared again.

'What is it?' Ori asked and paled as Basil jumped up and ran out of the room. 'Where are you going? Wait!'

Ori let go of his precious journal and followed Basil down the hall. As she ran towards the royal chambers, Ori started to sweat.

'Basil! Please, wait! Do not go there!' Ori shouted after Basil, who was very fast for such a tiny female.

'Why? I have to find Thorin! He left the Iron Hills!' Basil shouted without looking back.

'Should you not look for him in the treasury, then?' Ori hated himself for this, but he had to stop her from rushing right into Thorin's surprise.

His words did reach Basil and the hobbit stopped in her tracks. Panting, Ori bend over and had to lean onto his knees. Thank Mahal he had stopped her. Ori paled as he heard Thorin's and Bofur's voice from the royal chambers.

'We need a breakthrough to the garden.' Basil froze as she heard Thorin's voice. 'And this window needs to be round. Yes, I know how much work that is! Round, now!'

Ori closed his eyes in defeat as Basil continued to run towards the royal chambers and cursed. He should have told Dwalin that he loved him, for he would die today. Thorin would kill him for not keeping Basil away from his surprise.

#

Thorin had rushed back to Erebor after only one day in the Iron Hills. He wanted to supervise the rebuilding of the royal chambers himself and he also needed to do some of the alterations himself. Bofur and his miners broke through the massive wall and worked on a huge balcony which would be Basil's garden. From Bombur, he knew that the garden needed enough sun and fresh earth for vegetables and flowers to grow. Thorin had also told Bofur to install a pipe which pumped up water from the deepths of Erebor. The small window next to the door would be round, like the one in Bag End. Thorin himself build the fireplace and Balin turned his study to a library. Turning to Dori, Thorin rubbed his hands.

'We need rugs. Nice ones. And enough of them to lay out a path from one room to the other. Basil wears no boots and the stone floor is cold.'

Dori nodded and rushed out, passing Basil without noticing her.

Basil looked at the scene around her with surprise. Her mouth opened in astonishment as Thorin himself began to build a fireplace which looked like an exact replica of her fireplace in the Shire. The one he had stood at while he had been singing the song of the Misty Mountains.

Basil blinked as the sun broke through the whole in the wall and held up her hand to shield her face. This movement made Thorin notice the small hobbit standing in the door. The king paled and stood up rapidly, hitting his head on the top row of stone of the fireplace.

Basil jumped as she heard skull connect with stone and winced as she saw Thorin's expression. It was a mixture of anger, disappointment and...sadness.

At first, Basil wanted to step back, but Thorin had already seen her, so it was too late to hide.

'What are you doing here?' Thorin whispered, his voice thick with disappointment. He had wanted to surprise Basil and now, everything was ruined. 'Where is Ori?'

'I am here, your majesty.' Ori came forth behind Basil. 'I am so sorry, king Thorin. I tried to...'

'Ori is not to blame, Thorin.' Basil had needed a while to focus. 'Dain informed me that you had returned. I wanted to know why you came back so early...'

'Dain ruined this?' Thorin snarled and clenched his fists. 'That bastard.'

'Thorin.' Basil walked towards him, her gaze on the rooms. 'What are you doing here?'

'It was supposed to be a surprise.' Thorin muttered and looked a bit like a small dwarfling, whose toy had been broken.

'No, not like that!' Bofur yelled outside, he had not noticed Basil yet. 'That is not what Bag End looks like!'

Basil jerked out of her stupor by these words. Bag End – she noticed more and more similarities to her old home. Round archs, creamy white walls, light wood and much more light. Basil looked at Thorin, who was still standing in the middle of the room with slumped shoulders. Slowly, but determinately, Basil walked over to Thorin and stopped right in front of him. She ignored all the dwarves in the room as she stood on tip toes and cupped Thorin's face to pull him into a deep kiss.

Thorin's eyes widened almost comically as Basil kissed him, but it did not take long for him to wrap his arms around his queen and kiss her back. The dwarves around them did their best to ignore the kissing royal couple, but Ori leaned against the doorframe and smiled dreamily.

'This is the most sweetest thing...' Basil whispered against Thorin's lips, after they had broken the kiss for air. 'Was it your idea?'

Thorin, whose knees were still weak after their kiss, nodded wordlessly.


	15. Chapter 15

'Sweet?' Dwalin growled as Ori told him about his day later that night. 'What's sweet about this? Thorin drove everybody crazy for days and I had to sleep in Balin's rooms, instead of my Gingermuffin's bed...ouch!'

Ori had slapped Dwalin's arm and had blushed up to his hairline. He made Dwalin huff with his next statement. 'I missed you, too.'

'And what now? The king must have been devastated that his surprise was ruined. I am really surprised that Dain is still alive. What has driven him to fall into the king's back like that?' Dwalin frowned and leaned his chin against the top of Ori's head.

'Basil asked him for help and Dain helped. They both worried that Thorin would not be able to stay away from his gold for too long. Dain did Thorin a service – in a way. Now Thorin and Basil drive the craftsdwarves insane together.' Ori remarked and made Dwalin laugh.

'Almost makes me sad that I am not there to witness it.' Dwalin stated and shuddered as he thought about what might happen now, since Thorin and Basil were alone and...happy.

#

'I am sorry, the bed is already gone.' Thorin told Basil as they were finally alone. 'I had not planned you to be here during the rebuilding.'

Bofur and Bifur had closed the breakthrough with a few wooden planks, before the double winged door would be brought the next day. Thorin and Basil sat in front of the fireplace in an empty room, on a soft rug, which Balin had given them.

'Where did you plan to sleep while you...prepared this surprise for me?' Basil asked and stretched on the rug.

'Here, on the rug on the floor.' Thorin smiled as he saw Basil's surprised face. 'We slept on the hard earth for about a year during our journey, this rug is real luxury compared to that.'

'Yes, but now...I still cannot believe that you did this.' Basil sighed and reached for her husband. She laid her hands flat onto his chest and felt Thorin shudder.

'You left your home, twice, to be at my side.' Thorin sighed. 'I am no monster – even if many think so, I would never want you to live under this cold mountain without your garden, your books and your armchair. The things here might not be the original, but I will try to...'

Thorin stopped talking as Basil moved her fingers over his lips. 'This is perfect.' she whispered. 'I do not even know how to thank you.'

'You could tell me how Selene's story ends.' Thorin answered immediately and made Basil chuckle. She had believed that he would ask for something else.

'It seems that you already had something in mind.' Basil teased. 'Alright where was I?'

'Prince Charming failed in kissing her awake with a true love's kiss.' Thorin answered promptly.

'Ah yes, that is true.' Basil smirked and looked into the fire. 'Alright, so Prince Leg...I mean, Prince Charming, could not help them. The dwarves returned to the cottage, heartbroken. With every day, their chance of bringing Selene back to life grew thinner. The wizard had taken the apple and had paid the evil queen a visit; a visit which the queen had not survived. But her death did not break the spell. Another year passed and the dwarf called Grumpy grew restless. Selene had grown close to his heart, but he had never dared to allow himself to think more than fondly of her. Now, that she laid inside of the glass coffin, pale and cold, he could not lie to himself anymore. As the other dwarves retreated for the night, Grumpy kneeled before Selene's coffin and looked down into her beautiful face. He remembered the good and the bad, although the bad was quickly forgotten. He missed her kisses in the morning and her smiles in the evening, he missed her meals and her care. Their lives had changed since Selene had come to live with them. Her kindness had touched all of them, but especially Grumpy. He had never gotten any kindness from men and he had never trusted them, Selene was the first. With a sad sigh, Grumpy leaned over Selene and softly kissed her cold lips. He moved his callous fingers over her cold face, but he did not notice the warmth returning into her body. Only as her eyes opened and looked straight back into his, Grumpy let out a hoarse cry. Selene smiled at him, a smile which Grumpy would never forget in his whole life. Overcome with joy, Grumpy lifted her out of her coffin. He still held her in his arms as the other dwarves ran out of the cottage, alarmed by his cry. Selene felt safe and loved in Grumpy's arms and decided to stay there...happily ever after.'

Basil smiled as her story ended and looked at Thorin, who was also sporting a dreamy smile on his face.

'Grumpy got the princess.' Thorin stated amused and grinned smugly.

Basil had to chuckle as she noticed Thorin's expression and leaned towards him.

'I do not know about you, but I am exhausted. Will you stay with me and sleep here?' Basil asked sweetly, but with a purpose in mind. She had to keep Thorin close and prevent him from leaving for the treasury.

'I actually wanted...' Thorin paused midsentence as Basil pushed him onto his back and cuddled against him, her body molding into his. 'To stay here and sleep by the fire...'

Basil chuckled as Thorin ended the sentence differently than he had planned. Thorin wrapped his arm around his hobbit and sighed. This felt good and suddenly all his longing for his gold was blown away. With another content sigh, Thorin relaxed and let sleep take over.

'Grumpy got the princess.' were his last words before he fell asleep.

#

Basil managed to keep Thorin away from the gold at night for the next days. During the day they worked on their new chambers together and at night, Basil told Thorin one story after the other. It took eight days for the dwarves and Basil to rebuild everything and to turn the royal chambers into a hobbit home. Many dwarves of Erebor tried to get a good look of the king's new chambers. Stories and rumors spread about the hobbit queen, who had captured the mad king's heart and kept him in her hobbit home at night, preventing him from falling for the gold in his treasury. Most of them only saw a round Durin blue and wooden door when they looked upon the king's chambers.

It had taken Bofur and Dwalin three days to put the new door into place. Thorin had planned a door like in Bag End, with a green color and a dwarven rune on the lower corner. But Basil wanted to compromise and had painted it in a blue which matched Thorin's favorite tunics in Durin blue. There was no dwarven rune on the door, for Basil hoped that Thorin would find his own chambers without problems.

Dwalin and Ori had been a big help in redecorating the rooms. Ori had asked Dwalin to get a long rug from the market of Dale, a long rug which would cover the floor from the bed to the bathroom.

'We need about thirty feet!' Ori told Dwalin and made the older dwarf sigh.

'Who needs thirty feet of rug? I have to carry this mess back from Dale to Erebor! I am not the youngest anymore!' Dwalin grumbled, but Ori only chuckled. 'How long are thirty feet anyway?'

'Its from here to there.' Ori pointed from one corner of the room to the other and made Dwalin sigh.

'May I remind you that this is not one of the times when I want you to exaggerate how long something is?' Dwalin grumbled and made Ori blush violently.

But of course, Dwalin got the rug.

In the evening of the eighth day, Thorin and Basil had invited the former company into their rooms and threw a dinner. Some of them had been reluctant to accept Thorin's invitation, for they could not believe that Basil had broken through the madness, but one look upon their king washed most worries away. Thorin almost looked like the dwarf Thorin Oakenshield from the past, their fearless and honorable leader. Only rarely did Thorin's gaze move to the door and a golden shadow moved over his irises. But Basil had an eye on her husband and distracted him when the goldsickness tried to take over control.

Ori had told Dwalin how Basil had told Thorin stories to keep him from the treasury and Dwalin was inspired. He began to tell stories from their past in the Blue Mountains and dwelled in old memories.

'You should have seen him lass – and heard him!' Dwalin roared of laughter. 'The day when Thorin found his first grey hair, the mountain shook as he shouted for Dis to pull it out!'

Basil had to whip tears of laughter from her eyes and even Thorin chuckled although this story painfully reminded him of whom he had left behind in the Blue Mountains; his sister Dis.

'Dis pulled the grey hair out one after the other until he had so many that he would have turned bald pretty soon!' Dwalin grinned at Basil. 'Why do you think that I look like I do? I would rather be bald than grey. Grey is for...ouch!'

Ori had kicked him under the table and pointed at Dori, who glared at Dwalin with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Ori's brother's silvey hair gleamed in the firelight and Dwalin bit his tongue. Basil only laughed harder and diverted Dori by offering him a cup of camomille tea.

That evening, eleven dwarves and one hobbit dinned happily and cheerfully, the past forgotten and their focus on the future. Seeing their king smile gave the dwarves hope for a better future for Erebor; maybe not everything was lost. Only the fact that two of the company were missing and laying in cold tombs in the lower hall of Erebor dampened the mood. When the company had left, Basil took Thorin's hand.

'I want to visit Fili and Kili.' Basil asked quietly and carefully looked up at Thorin.

The king closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. He had never permitted himself to think about his nephews, who had died too young and in a battle which should have cost his own life instead of theirs. Basil knew that Thorin hated himself for their deaths, but he had to face the fact that they were dead and cherish their memory instead of banishing every memory.

'Honor them with your visit, my king.' Basil told him and noticed that Thorin's gaze softened.

'Will you come with me?' Thorin asked and looked at Basil with a hopeful expression.

'There is nothing I would rather do now, my king.' Basil took his arm and walked down with him. 'Would you tell me about the battle?'

Thorin looked down at his wife and nodded after a while. 'First, you have to tell me that you were safe and sound on your way to the Shire when the battle ragged.'

'I...' Basil bit her lip. 'I was there...'

Thorin sighed and shook his head in regret. 'Why? Why did you put yourself in such a danger?'

'For you.' Basil stated simply and smiled bitterly. 'I had to fight a last battle for you, at last that was how I felt back then.'

'I did not deserve that, I do not deserve that now.' Thorin answered and noticed that Basil's grip around his arm hardened.

'You deserve all of it.' Basil stated determinately. 'I thought it back then and I am sure of it now. I rushed to Ravenhill after you, but I...I was knocked out. When I woke up – you were gone and Fili and Kili...I left right after Gandalf found me. I was sure that you did not want to see me and that you would punish me if I returned despite the banishment. But when Gandalf asked for my help lateron, I could not hide anymore. I was a coward, I should have fought for what we had.'

'What did we have?' Thorin asked bitterly. 'I destroyed everything. I nearly killed you, at first with this quest and then with my own hands. You owe me nothing, but I owe you everything.'

'You owe me a story.' Basil tried to divert his dark thoughts. 'Please tell me what happened while I was gone.'

Thorin did not utter a word until they were standing in front of the two tombs. The stone tombs were decorated with runes and high praises for the two princes. Fili's tomb was worthy of a prince, the runes were written in mithril and silver and his deeds in battle were highly praised. Kili's tomb was more simple, but small wooden bows and arrows were worked into the stone and the runes spoke of the fiercest bowman under the mountain of Erebor.

'They shielded me. With weapon, shield and body.' Thorin's voice jerked Basil out of her grief. 'We fought Azog on Ravenhill. Dwalin was keeping the orcs from us, while we fought Azog and his son. Fili and Kili managed to kill Azog's son, Bolg, and I could feel my heart skip with pride. But then, Azog got me. He rammed his blade through my foot and I fell. Fili was the first by my side, but Azog was faster. He saw Fili coming and rammed his arm into his stomach. Kili was blinded by grief for his brother and fell a few moments later. They died side by side, as they had always wished. I survived – but often enough I wish that I had fallen by their side. I killed that orc scum before I lost consciousness, but I remember nothing more. I woke up under the mountain. The elves and men were gone, Bard had given back the arkenstone and we were alone. Alone to rebuild our home. Slowly, the dwarves of the Blue Mountains returned, only few stayed behind. My sister Dis stayed with them, she has not forgiven me for the death of her sons. I understand.'

'But you are all she has left?' Basil remembered. Thorin had told her that their grandmother and mother had died when Smaug had attacked and that Thror, Dis' husband and Frerin had died in the battle of Azanulbizar. Thrain had also died at the hands of evil. Now Thorin was Dis' only living family member, but Basil could also understand that Dis would not return to the mountain which had claimed the lives of her beloved sons.

'Dis wrote to me. She told me that it would hurt her too much to look upon my face. She also feared what I have become...a monster. Stories about Durin's curse have reached the Blue Mountains together with the news about the success about our quest.' Thorin ignored the feeling of guilt in his guts. He knew that he had been weak and that his sister had been strong all her life.

Basil had noticed that Thorin tried to ignore the dragonsickness and his madness, so she carefully took a step towards him.

'You are strong, Thorin. You can fight the goldsickness.' Basil whispered.

Thorin paled as he heard that particular word out of Basil's mouth. Nobody had ever uttered that word in his presence. Nobody had ever confronted him with his madness in such a direct way. Balin had tried a few times, but in a very subtle and diplomatic way which had been easy to ignore. Thorin had also always ignored his sickness, it had even gotten easier to live with his weakness after Fili and Kili had died and he had fallen into a deep depression. But now, with Basil at his side, he felt stronger.

'I have hurt so many because I was too weak. I cannot forget this.' Thorin remarked and looked down at his nephew's tombs.

'You shall not forget.' Basil agreed and watched Thorin lower his head in humiliation. ‚But you shall be forgiven.'

'You would forgive me?' Thorin laughed a bitter laugh. 'Why?'

Basil stepped in front of him and caught his gaze. 'Because I love you.'


	16. Chapter 16

**So many favs, you guys make me so happy! :) I am so sorry for the late update, but the last days have been quite strainful at work and in addition I have caught a nasty flu and are not really in the condition to write at the moment. But no worries, it should be fine soon and the the updates should come twice a week again...Thank you so much for yor support!**

Those three words hung in the air as Thorin and Basil returned to their home. As the round door closed behind them, Thorin walked up to the huge bed and stared at it, while Basil quickly cleaned up the kitchen. As she returned to the bedroom, Thorin was still staring.

‚What is it?' Basil asked and eyed the bed curiously. ‚Is something of the bed not to your liking?'

‚No one of us saw your bed in Bag End, so I kept the old one.' Thorin told her with an unreadable expression. ‚It has not come to good use since our wedding, has it?'

Basil blushed and bit her lip. ‚No, it has not. But we could make it up.'

Thorin smiled down at his wife and turned around to face her, cupping her face with his callous hands.

‚Do not take this the wrong way – my queen – but I would rather spend this night sleeping at your side in our bed than anything else.' Thorin stated in a quiet and hoarse voice that almost made Basil regret this decision. Basil had longed for Thorin's touch for so long, but she could wait to go the last step. ‚Do you need another story?'

Thorin's booming laugh almost made her jump. ‚No. I think I will be able to fall asleep with my wife in my arms.'

The next few days, Thorin and Basil needed no stories for bedtime, but they still talked alot. Thorin told her about his childhood and his life in the Blue Mountains and Basil told Thorin about her life in the Shire. During the day, Thorin sat in council, while Basil was free to move around in the mountain by herself. She helped Ori finish their journal, visited the library and went to the markets. Their relationship was back to the state it had been during their quest, even better. Thorin's sickness began to fade into oblivion, although a golden shadow always hung over the royal couple like a dark threat. Nevertheless, word spread that the Lonely Mountain was no longer cursed and that the line of Durin was stronger than ever. But in the dark of the Mirkwood Forest, a dark shadow looked upon the Lonely Mountain, unknown to the dwarves and their hobbit queen.

#

‚There will be no diplomatic relations between Erebor and Mirkwood!' Thorin yelled into the corridor and slammed the round door shut behind him. Balin and a few advisors sighed and returned to the big hall. They had tried to persuade the king to form a stronger bond to the mighty elven kingdom, but as usual, Thorin saw red when king Thranduil was concerned. The dwarven king had not forgiven the elven king for wanting to take the mountain by force a few years ago.

‚Do you think that this is wise?' Basil took his coat and massaged his shoulders.

‚You have been there, you know what that tree fairy did!' Thorin growled.

Basil had to chuckle about Thranduil's nickname, for some reason she had to think about a miniatur Thranduil in a dress, a wand and wings.

‚Erebor cannot stand alone.' Basil touched Thorin's lower arm. ‚Of course, we have the Iron Hills on our side, but why should Erebor stay isolated? We need political relations to other people of Middle Earth.'

‚I was thinking about sending the Ri brothers to the Shire to establish diplomatic relations. We could need some help in agricultural issues. Nothing grows around this mountain. It was hard enough to get enough soil for your garden. How are your tomatoes doing?' Thorin asked and surprised Basil with his sudden change of topic.

‚Uhm, I...I planted the seeds and hopefully I will see something grow in a few days.' Basil looked out to her garden. She still smiled when she thought about what Thorin had done for her. ‚By the way – we need to pick a place for my acorn. I cannot plant it in my garden, there is not enough space.'

‚The acorn.' Thorin knew what Basil was talking about. The small acorn had brought him a short moment of peace during his sickness. ‚I do not even know what it would need. Sun, fresh soil, cold rock. There is nothing but rock around Erebor. We could plant it in the Shire.'

‚No.' Basil sadly shook her head. ‚There is nothing for me there. I will never go back to the Shire. I also do not want thr brothers Ri to go there. It is not necessary. I can help you with everything, all hobbits know about agriculture.'

‚Why do you not want to go home?' Thorin frowned. He could not understand how someone could turn his back on the own home.

‚The Shire is not my home anymore. The other hobbits never really accepted me and after our quest...there is simply nothing left for me.'

Thorin felt a pang of guilt in his chest. Basil had lost everthing and only because of him. He had never really repaid her, the garden and the new rooms were only sad excuses in his eyes. Caught in his musing, Thorin nearly missed that Basil spoke to him.

‚Thorin! Do not dare to blame yourself! The Shire is full of ignorant, self centered and arrogant hobbits, who have never seen more than their green hills and their hobbit holes!' Basil stood up and paced in front of the fire place in fury. Her hands were pressed into her hips and her ears had blushed in her anger. She looked radiating and Thorin had to chuckle. ‚How is that funny?'

Thorin also stood up and stopped Basil's pacing. ‚You look sweet when you are angry.'

‚Sweet?' Basil splutterred. ‚Sweet? These hobbit pansies insult me and my family and they make you feel bad! And you have the nerve...Mph!'

Basil's ranting was cut short by Thorin's lips on hers. Her eyes widened before they closed slowly and Basil's knees almost gave away. Thorin had initially kissed Basil to shut her up, but now that his thin lips pressed against her full ones, he could not stop and purred all his love and devotion into the kiss. As Basil moaned against his lips, Thorin pulled her flush against him.

‚Mahal, Basil.' Thorin croaked hoarsely as they broke the kiss for air.

Basil needed a while to open her eyes and as she did, the look in Thorin's blue eyes took her breath away. Memories washed over her, memories of past kisses with Thorin. The first had been in Beorn's garden, the second, third and fourth on the road and one last mindblowing kiss in Laketown, after Thorin had revealed who he was. The adrenalin in his veins had made his blood boil and he would have taken his hobbit right there in Laketown if a drunk Dwalin had not stumbled into their room and had collapsed on the bed right in the middle of the couple. Thorin had cursed in every language he knew and Basil had laughed so hard that all lust was blown away.

But now, it was only them. Their wedding was months away and this was their first real kiss since then. Thorin's sickness had prevented every chance of intimacy as well and Basil realised that she longed for her husband more than ever. Thorin's sheepish smile made her chuckle and she knew that he wanted her, too, but did not know how to express his feelings.

‚You rockheaded dwarf.' Basil smiled and cupped his bearded face in her hands. ‚How long do we have to wait?'

Thorin looked down at his hands and Basil moved closer towards him, so that he had to look into her eyes. ‚You are my king. Make me your queen.'

Basil could see dwarven pride and obsession gleam up in his eyes, but this time not for gold, for her. With a deep growl, Thorin lifted her up in his arms and walked to their bed. That night, the guards in front of the round door heard small cries out of the royal chambers, cries different from the mad cries many months ago, but not less terrifying in their ears.

#

Basil woke the next morning, feeling relaxed and happy and she felt a stupid grin on her face. With a sheepish glance under the sheets, she realised that she had slept naked, very unusual for a respectable hobbit. But then again, she had forgotten what a respectable hobbit was as Thorin's callous hands had moved over her body last night. The memory of his beard against her skin sent shivers down her spine. Basil would never forget the love in his eyes and the passion in his moves; around of her and inside of her. She had cried out everytime when he had slid into her, sometimes softly, sometimes passionately. Basil had buried her hands in Thorin's mane and had pulled as she came, which had made Thorin follow her over the edge with a low groan as well.

‚I cannot believe that we did not do this before.' Thorin was already awake and nuzzled her hair.

‚We were in the company of your kin. Or men. Or elves. Or orcs.' Basil chuckled sleepily.

‚Screw them. Nothing in the world will keep me out of our bed again.' Thorin grumbled and made Basil's insides flip with joy. But she would not solely rely on words, so she turned around and looked deep into his eyes.

‚Promise me. Swear that you will stay here, with me.' Basil asked and saw an amused gleam in Thorin's eyes.

‚I will have to leave my chambers sometime.' Thorin chuckled, but his look turned earnest as he saw Basil's glare.

‚You know what I mean.' Basil growled and surprised herself how much she could sound like a dwarf herself.

‚I will see to it that the gold is kept deep inside of the mountain, out of everyone's reach, also mine.' Thorin answered in all honesty. ‚The arkenstone will remain above my throne. It is my birthright and I will keep it close.'

Basil bit her lip, but decided to keep silent for now. As things were going, this was already a huge step. At the same time, doubts flooded her mind. What if the only thing that kept Thorin from his gold was the pleasure he drew of her body? Basil sighed bitterly and the euphoria of the morning was gone. If her body was the only distraction, then she would give it freely.

‚Stop that, this instant!' Thorin's voice startled Basil and brought her back to the world of the living.

‚What?' for a moment, Basil had forgotten where she was and that Thorin was looking right at her.

‚I know what you are thinking, my hobbit queen.' The guilt and sorrow in Thorin's eyes pierced Basil's heart. ‚I am deeply ashamed that my actions in the past made you think such things of me.'

‚What things, my king?' Basil asked, for Thorin could impossibly know what she was thinking about. Not the rockheaded, proud and stubborn Thorin.

‚I may be a stubborn and proud rockhead.' Thorin stated and made Basil blush violently. ‚But I have known you well, burglar of my heart. You fear that only the pleasures of our maritial bed will keep me from my gold.'

Basil gasped as she realised that Thorin had actually read her mind. ‚I am sorry, Thorin.' she mumbled and wanted to hide under the sheet in embarassment. She had not wanted to think such things, but these doubts were there, she could not help it.

‚No!' Thorin leaned onto one elbow and looked down at Basil. ‚Do not apologise to me. Never about this.'

Thorin frowned deeply as he realised that he had never really asked for Basil's forgiveness.

‚I am the one who needs to be forgiven. I have destroyed everything. Our love, the bond to my sister, a peaceful establishment of my kingdom and a possibly stable reign. All because of some cold piles of gold. I realise it now, but I can still hear its call. It has become easier to ignore it, now that you are at my side. Easier, but not impossible. Therefore, I ask you not only for your forgiveness, but also for your help.' Thorin sat up and almost did not dare to look at Basil, but his queen moved to his side and cupped the side of his face with her tiny hand.

‚Thorin, look at me.' Basil told him and waited patiently until his blue eyes met hers. ‚I am your burglar, your wife, your queen. I will stand at your side, no matter what. I have forgiven you long ago and despite everything that happened I think that you are the most honorable and strong person I have ever known. I love you and I will continue doing so, whatever will happen in our future.'

Thorin felt his eyes fill with tears of gratitude and joy and fought against them. He did not want to cry in his wife's arms like a wee dwarfling, but then again, he trusted Basil enough to show her how weak he was.

‚I will give out orders to Gloin and Dori tomorrow. The deepest halls of Erebor shall be the new treasury.' Thorin decided as the tears had stopped and cleared his throat.

‚They will be so happy.' Basil grinned amused. ‚Do you even know how much gold there is?'

Thorin caught Basil's sarcastic, but humorous, tone and chuckled. It would take his dwarves a few weeks to move all the gold, but it was worth it.

‚Gloin's wife will be really relieved. He drove her mad since she came to Erebor with little Gimli.' Thorin smiled despite his sad mood. ‚The wee lad is really precious. I hope that we will have one of those one day.'

The words were out before Thorin could help it and he bit his lip in shock. He did not believe that he said it out loud. But Basil's blush and her beaming smile were the best reward for his open words.


	17. Chapter 17

'By Mahal´s beard, now why are you crying? For the lack of sleep we are going to get in the next….years?' Dwalin grumbled, but watched Ori and Basil jump up and down in amusement.

'They will have a dwarfling!' Ori was almost more excited than Basil. 'A fauntling? A…dwarfaunt….a fauntdwarf…oh dear…'

'A dwobbit.' Dwalin declared and crossed his arms over his chest. 'They will have a dwobbit.'

'A dwobbit!' Ori began to bounce again.

Basil chuckled about Ori´s excitement. She was happy that she could share the news with friends, in the Shire, the other hobbits would have frowned upon her and her little ones; simply for being different. Especially Lobelia Sackville-Baggins was a person which Basil did not even want near her children.

'We have just decided to give it a try.' Basil told Ori. 'It will take a while.'

'Not after what the guards told me. Ouch!' Dwalin rubbed the back of his head, after Ori had jumped up and smacked him. 'Stop, it, you mother hen, you are worse than your brother.'

Basil thought that she might get a cramp from laughing as she heard Ori gasp in a way Dori also did.

'You take that back, or you will sleep on the floor until you grow up!' Ori teased his partner.

'Well, do not expect that to happen anytime soon.' Dwalin grumbled and that did it; Basil got a cramp.

#

In the dark shadows of Mirkwood, a pair of gleaming eyes appeared every now and then, gazing upon the Lonely Mountain steadily. A dark spirit, broken and mutilated, loomed over the dwarven carawans which crossed the borders of Erebor, with carts full of precious gold for the people of Laketown and Dale. The promised help. It came – the mad king had held his word in the end.

Rumors of the strong hobbit queen had reached Mirkwood, as well as other corners of Middle Earth. They said that the mad king´s love for her cured him from his sickness. The gleaming eyes turned to slits. The dark spirit would see about that.

#

Life under the Lonely Mountain normalized after the supposed cure of the king. Diplomatical relations were established between Erebor and Dale and the queen herself would ride to Mirkwood to speak to king Thranduil a few weeks later. Thorin had wanted to accompany her, but Basil had shaken her head in amusement.

'If I wanted someone to shout and throw insults at king Thranduil, I would bring my great cousin Balthanas.' Basil had told him. 'He hated tall people. And blonde people. Especially the fair ones. To be honest he hated everyone.'

Thorin had smiled at his queen, but made sure that an escort would be made ready, which would remind of a small army.

'Take care, my queen.' Thorin had whispered into her ear, while he softly nibbled at her earlobe. 'I will come back to you.'

'Of course.' Basil had answered and had tried to ignore the shiver running down her spine.

They had prepared their diplomatical journeys together and knew what one expected from the other. Thorin trusted Basil enough to let her speak for himself and his people. As far as elves were concerned, Thorin even trusted Basil more than any other dwarf, even Balin, to fulfill the diplomatical task with the woodland elves. While he was in Dale, Basil would be queen under the mountain.

'Only a truce. And some trade arrangements. We need no green food, though. And the tree shag….Thranduil should mend the cursed road in his cursed forest. And kill the spiders. And….' Thorin stopped with his rambling as he felt Basil´s fingertips on his lips.

'I know. I will see to it that everything is to your liking in the letters I send, my king.' Basil smiled and kissed her husband goodbye. They were standing outside of the gate of Erebor and many dwarves were watching; some of them skeptically, but most of them with a dreamy smile on their faces.

'Thorin.' Basil looked up at her husband lovingly. 'You will have to let go of my hand, otherwise you cannot leave.'

Thorin nearly shook his head like a stubborn dwarfling, but then released his wife with a sheepish smirk.

'I love you.' Basil said before he rode away. She smiled as she heard Thorin yell "I love you more!" over his shoulder as he rode away.

#

Thorin was glad that Bard had insisted on having their meeting in Dale. Since Dale was still in ruins and not wealthy or rich, there was no gold anywhere and Thorin could concentrate on the negociations. But he missed Basil from the first moment on. He had gotten a raven from Dwalin, informing him that they had send letters to king Thranduil and that they were planning to meet with his escort in a month´s time.

The negociations in Dale were only slowly ongoing; Bard had not forgotten how easily Thorin had broken his word under the sickness. The man did not trust Thorin for good reason and Thorin knew that he had to regain his trust before these negociations would go anywhere. Balin had accompanied Thorin to Dale and was currently speaking to Bard's advisors and Thorin used the moment to talk to Bard in private. He found the former bowman on the balcony of the royal library, he was holding a small book in his hands.

'This book was my wife's.' Bard began to talk. 'It is a children´s book, full of small stories, about love, friendship and happy endings.'

Bard smiled, but his smile was bitter and sad. 'There was no happy ending for my wife and I.'

Thorin tried to ignore the cold shiver that ran down his spine at the man´s words, but before he could say something, Bard continued.

'My wife died, far away from her home, her family...' Bard told Thorin and the pain in the man´s eyes made Thorin´s heart wrench in sympathy. 'Four years after Tilda was born, I got sick and could not do the Mirkwood tour to collect the barrels. My wife, her name was Aiofe, took the tour for me. She kissed the children goodbye and told Sigrid to take care of her sick father. She never came back. Our boat and the barrels were found in the mist of the lake, but there was no sign of her body on the boat; only lots of blood.'

'I am sorry.' Thorin knew that no words would ever be enough to ease Bard´s pain. A few months ago, that fate would have left Thorin cold, but now that he had Basil, he did not even want to think about the pain if he would lose her that way.

'Sigrid looks exactly like her.' Bard sighed. 'I am reminded of what I lost every day. But I love my children, they are all I have left of Aiofe.'

'You can be proud of your children.' Thorin insisted and was sure that Balin would rub his hands about his king´s words. Thorin was never a dwarf for small talk, but he could learn.

'I am.' Thorin´s words seemed to have awaken Bard out of his memories. 'And I am sure that one day, you can be very proud of yours. I think congratulations are in order. I apologise that I have never sent my regards, but...'

'After how things ended between our people and us, I think that your silence was well...golden.' Thorin smirked bitterly and made Bard chuckle.

'So...the hobbit.' Bard smiled and cocked an eyebrow at Thorin. 'I remember her as a soft and nice lass with a sour expression as she climbed out of my toilet.'

Thorin could not help but chuckle as well, but he also remembered that he had wrapped Basil into a blanket and had tried to rub her warm. He had tried to keep his hands on her as long as possible without it being inappropriate. Basil had blushed anyway and had snuggled into the blanket.

Thorin and Bard talked the whole night and continues the diplomatical negociations the next morning. It took only two days for Thorin and Bard to establish trade agreements and a peace treaty, which would be flexible for more. Balin shook his head in amusement as he watched Bard and Thorin talk. The negociations went better than expected and Balin knew that Thorin´s good mood would only be dampened by the fact that still no news had come from Mirkwood.

'How are your relations to Mirkwood in the moment?' Thorin wanted to know from Bard, but the man only shook his head.

'I have not heard anything from king Thranduil since the battle. Not even barrels arrive anymore. It seems as if the king isolates his people more than before. He seemed very worried as we last met, as if he knew something that we did not.' Bard mused. 'I do not trust him. He came to our aid and he fought at our side, but the king´s heart is pure ice. He never does anything without his own interest in mind. And, he did not inform us about everything, but neither did the wizard.'

Thorin hummed in agreement and tried to ignore the growing worry. No word had been sent from Mirkwood in days, but he wanted to give Basil more time. Talking to Thranduil was not easy, even for a creature as fair and soft as his wife. Thorin told himself to wait, even if it nearly tore him apart.

#

Thorin´s mood was not only threatened by his longing for Basil. It started three days after his departure; Thorin began to see gold everywhere. A small coin here and a golden gleam there. Once, Thorin even found a small golden coin under his pillow. He had thrown the coin out of the window and out of his reach, but the pull by the gold was lingering. As he found a coin in his personal belongings, he knew that someone tried to boycott his battle against the sickness.

'Do you think that maybe Bard...' Balin looked at the small coin in his hands. He was incredibly grateful that Thorin had come to him instead of dealing with it himself and probably falling under the curse again.

'Bard has nothing to do with this.' Thorin insisted. 'He would need all the gold he can get to rebuild Dale and Laketown. Only yesterday I promised him more gold from the treasury. And he knows about my...sickness. He would not jeopardize our negociations by forcing me under the curse again and risk to get nothing.'

Balin nodded, for Thorin was right, but the thought that somebody was threatening Thorin in knowledge of the king´s one weakness frightened him. But the gold was not Thorin´s only weakness.

'We should send a raven to Erebor.' Balin told Thorin. 'You need to return.'

'Do you fear for my sanity, old friend?' Thorin asked and tried to ignore the feeling of shame. Of course, Balin had every reason to not trust him.

'I fear for the queen´s safety.' Balin eyed Thorin carefully. 'Somebody tries to threaten you and there are only two ways to do so. Gold and Basil.'

Thorin paled as he realised what Balin was saying. He sent his fastest raven and felt the pull of the gold more than ever as he waited for it´s return.

The young raven which Thorin had sent, flew into Erebor without looking back. It had a message to deliver and it would not fail in it´s mission. With it´s mind on the royal chambers of Erebor, the raven concentrated on the way ahead and failed to see what happened behind it´s back. A loud shriek was the last thing the raven heard as sharp claws tore into it´s back.


	18. Chapter 18

Basil was more than shocked as Thorin returned to Erebor. Thorin looked like a ghost, pale and exhausted. It took Balin only a few moments to inform the queen of the past events. It surprised him that the raven had not arrived in Erebor, but he did not think anything by it.

Basil paled as she learned that Thorin was once again threatened by gold. She hurried back into the royal chambers to face her husband and found him in their bed.

'There is no gold in here.' Thorin had laid down and curled up against the pillows like a dwarfling. 'No gold.'

'Of course not.' Basil murmured and sat down at his side, caressing his back. The terrified look in Thorin´s eyes scared her. 'Balin told me what happened. Who could do something like this?'

'Everyone knows that I am mad, that I can hear the gold calling out to me. Everyone knows what I have done under it´s influence.' Thorin muttered and tried to calm down. 'So basically, everyone who wants me to fail would do such a thing.'

'You have no enemies.' Basil tried to insist, but Thorin snorted.

'I have more enemies than friends.' Thorin sighed. 'I count Thranduil to my enemies.'

'Do you seriously think that Thranduil would do this to you?' Basil had thought about that as well, but in the end, Thranduil had no interest in harming Thorin, maybe only petty personal interest. 'You are here with me now. We will fight this together. As always.'

Thorin could already feel his resistance grow stronger at Basil´s side and relaxed visibly. He was happy to be home again and wanted nothing more than have a quick bath and sleep.

'They will try to get to you. You are my everything and my strength.' Thorin pulled Basil into his arms.

'But who are they?' Basil looked at Thorin with a frown. 'We need to know who threatens us. Otherwise we cannot fight back.'

'I have told Nori to investigate.' Thorin informed her, he had finally calmed down. 'He will find out who does that to us.'

'I should postpone my diplomatical journey to Mirkwood in two weeks.' Basil said, but Torin shook his head.

'If this is indeed a plot by Thranduil, your presence there will be more important than before.' Thorin shook his head.

Basil bit her lip in worry, she worried for how Thorin would fare when she left and how he would be able to resist if gold turned up everywhere in his path. Someone was following the king of the dwarves and managed to place gold near him or around him. That someone had to be either close to the king or very hard to catch, a spy or a mere presence. Basil thought about the ring which she had left in Bag End. Invisible, she had the chance to do great deeds; what if something similar was now threatening Thorin? Basil almost regretted leaving her ring back in the Shire, but she knew that she had done the right thing. The ring had made her feel obsessed and after what had happened to Thorin, Basil could not keep the ring with a good consience.

'I will take a quick bath.' Thorin told her and left the bed as Basil hummed. She was caught in her thoughts and missed the puppy look in Thorin´s eyes as he looked back at her. She also missed that he prepared his bath extra loud to catch her attention. Only as Thorin slipped on a piece of soap on the floor and hit the ground with an earth shattering noise, Basil appeared in the bathroom with wide eyes.

'So, a king needs to break his back to lure the queen into the bathtub.' Thorin grinded his teeth as he rolled from the floor into the bathtub.

'No, a king only needs to say a bloody word.' Basil wanted to slap her husband silly. 'Seriously, how old are you?'

'Do not ask.' Thorin answered and decided to take cover and submerge under water. As he emerged again, Basil had brought wine, bread and cheese to the tub and undressed. As her gown fell from her shoulders, Thorin forgot the pain and how hungry he was.

#

That was the last peaceful night for Thorin and Basil. Thorin saw himself confronted by collapsing mines, thieves in the lower levels near the new treasury and panicking merchants. Basil only turned her back on their chambers for half a day and returned to find a golden cup in her kitchen. While the royal chambers were empty, the guards were always posted at the entry of the royal wing, not in front of the round door. Basil changed that instantly and told the guards to let nobody in, but the servants.

As she found a handful of golden coins under their bed, Basil informed Balin and Dwalin and interrogated the servants. None of them admitted smuggling gold into the royal chambers and most of them were as shocked as Basil to find out that gold had been found near the king. Some of the servants seemed to think that Thorin himself smuggled the gold into the rooms, but Basil did not want to believe this. Nori, who was having an eye on Thorin as well, assured her, that Thorin had no chance to get his hands onto any gold, for it was brought deep into the lower halls and Thorin had spend all day in court.

Basil confronted Thorin with the situation when her came home, always keeping him up to date and never hiding anything from him. Thorin nodded wordlessly as Basil told him about the found gold and his stomach clenched violently. He did not know how he could stand against the growing threat any longer. Basil did her best to find the hidden gold and keep it away from him, but Thorin could feel it´s pull and it´s call. He tried to fight it, but he could feel himself grow weak. Even Basil's comforting arms and her kisses only made the gold fade a tiny bit, by far not as much as it should. One night, Basil even caught Thorin staring at her golden hair with an unreadable expression and running his hand through it. She could also feel his mind drifting away from her from time to time, but then she managed to focus his attention on her, often with using her body to lure him back. While their intimate relationship was comforting and fullfilling, Basil felt the golden shadow hanging over them when they made love. An almost dwarven feeling of posession overcame Basil when she held Thorin in her arms, he was hers, only hers, she would not give him up; she would continue to fight for him.

It was exhausting to fight the goldsickness, especially when golden things turned up faster than Basil could react. Thorin resisted, but he needed all his strength and soon, he began to weaken. One day, melted gold even came out of the shower in their bathroom, when Thorin and Basil came back from court. Basil nearly fainted and Thorin turned cold and distant. Nobody could explain how these things could happen and soon, many dwarves were sure that the curse was too powerful to ever be cured. Thorin himself began to lose hope as he felt a golden rush flood his mind during their last night before Basil´s departure to Mirkwood. He was holding her in his arms and stroked her side as his hips pumped into her in a never ending rythm. Her legs were wrapped around him and her arms lay around his neck; nevertheless Thorin saw nothing but golden flashes for a few moment before he baned everything golden from his mind by kissing his wife deeply and swallowing her gasps as she came. He did not tell her about his weakness; Basil needed to leave for Mirkwood either way. Either would she talk to Thranduil and make sure that he was not behind this threat or she would establish a diplomatic bond between their people which would stabilise Erebor. In the end, she would be safe from him and the golden curse with the elves. If Thorin succumbed to the madness anew, he would order Balin to tell Basil to stay away from the Lonely Mountain. At first, Thorin had hoped that Basil would be able to break the curse, but now he feared that nothing could and wanted his wife safe. Even if his heart broke when he thought about living under the mountain without her.

#

Thorin paced up and down in front of the fireplace in the royal chambers. Basil had left for Mirkwood with Dwalin and an armed guard over a week ago and there was still no news from Mirkwood. No word from Basil, Dwalin or even Thranduil. Thorin felt as if he lost his mind all over again and as if the ground was torn from below his feet. He knew deep in his heart that Basil was alive; she was a part of him now, if she had died, he would have felt it. But something was not right, something was definetly not right. He had sent a group of dwarves to Mirkwood, but they had not encountered any elves, nor spiders, nor any other living being. They had returned with empty hands. In his despair, Thorin had not even noticed that his chambers filled with golden objects slowly, at first a golden candleholder, then a golden ink pot and now a golden fork for his food. As Balin saw the objects in the royal chambers, the old advisor felt his heart freeze. He saw to it that the objects were brought away instantly, but he knew that there would be new ones, soon. The guards were doubled, but nobody could prevent golden things from appearing in the king´s vicinity. Even under penalty of death, some golden things appeared in the kitchen, the bathroom, the chambers and other places the king did visit. Balin did not have the heart to condemn the naive young maidens and servants to their deaths, although they had to have seen something. But they swore that they did not know how the gold could have appeared at all those places.

It was Ori, loyal and sweet Ori, who caught a young dwarf maiden, who tried to sneak into the king´s chambers. Her eyes were wide in shock as Ori stopped her and she tried to run. But Ori had learned alot from Dwalin and had managed to tackle her to the ground. She admitted lateron, that she was supposed to seduce the king. She was wearing a golden nightwear and golden jewelry, her hair was golden as well. She told the guards that a dark shadow had made her swear by the arkenstone that she would try to win the king´s heart. She had no memory of what had happened afterwards.

'Where and when did the dark shadow approach her?' Thorin wanted to know. This incident painfully reminded him of his first two wives.

'She said that it came to her in her dreams.' Ori sighed. 'The gates are closed at night, it should be impossible for anyone or anything to enter the mountain.'

But Thorin shook his head. 'Smaug tore down our defenses, he wrecked the mountain and he opened cracks and slits to the outside. We are still not enough dwarves to secure the mountain against every evil this world has to offer. I can feel my resistance crumble, master Ori. You should leave.'

Ori bowed and left the royal chambers with a heavy heart. The king worried about Basil as Ori worried about Dwalin. The queen and the escort had disappeared in the Mirkwood forest. Ori only knew one dwarf who might be able to find out what had happened.


	19. Chapter 19

Ori was about to burst as he drank another cup of Dori´s chamomille tea. Together with Balin, they waited for news of Nori, who had left for Mirkwood many nights ago.

'He should be back by now.' Dori mumbled. 'This cursed forest swallows dwarves for breakfast.'

'Nori is careful, I am sure that he is fine.' Ori snarled.

The atmosphere under the mountain was dangerously numb. Thorin had not left his chambers for days and the dwarves of Erebor felt his resistance against the gold crumble with every day that passed without any news from Mirkwood or the queen.

'I need to pee.' Ori sighed and went to the bathroom. As the door closed behind him, Dori could hear him shriek and almost showered himself in tea as he rushed to the bathroom. With wide eyes, he looked down at the scene in front of him. Nori was back; he had crawled through the toilet.

'Old habbits, ya know.' Nori stated dryly and shuddered. The things he had seen in Mirkwood had made him cautious and he did not plan to enter Erebor by the front gates.

'I nearly peed on him, for Mahal´s sake.' Ori was close to throwing up.

'Any news?' Balin kept a cool head and urged forwards.

'The queen is gone.' Nori told his brothers and Balin. 'The elves and her dwarven guard are dead.'

Ori felt his knees weaken and had to sit down on the floor. So Dwalin was dead, his sweet Dwalin.

'There is no sign of Dwalin either.' Nori eyed Ori cautiously and smirked as he saw his little brother smile in relief. 'He was not amongst the dead.'

'Dead elves and dwarves alike?' Balin mused. 'The only ones who would kill both and leave their bodies are...orcs.'

'These actions are too well planned for orcs. Not only did Basil disappear, gold began to turn up near Thorin.' Nori shook his head. 'Orcs are brainless, they do not work that way.'

'This is a plot against Thorin, against Erebor!' Dori clenched his fists. 'We need to inform Thorin about that immediately! Where is the king?'

The brothers Ri rushed out into the corridor and confronted the guards, asking for their king. The answer was unsettling.

'He is in the treasury.'

#

Basil woke up with a blinding pain behind her eyes. She had no memory of what had happened, she only remembered that a dark shadow had appeared as soon as they had met the elvish escort one day into Mirkwood Forest. She had seen the captain of the elvish escort fall into a puddle of his own blood and had heard her own guard cry out in alarm.

With a groan, Basil tried to open her eyes and realised that one of her eyes was covered in dried blood. It took a while to open it, but it changed nothing. Basil´s surroundings were dark and cold, there was no sun, not even shadow, only darkness. Basil sat up and crawled around to get an idea of the area around her. For a horrible moment she feared that she might be blind, for her eyes were wide open, but nothing caught her eye. As her hands brushed cold metal, Basil realised that she was in a small prison cell.

As her other senses began to wake, she could hear faint whispers and loud shrieks from afar. Some of them sounded like orcs, others like goblin shrieks, but some also sounded like the cries of a wounded female.

'My queen!' a harsh whisper from behind Basil made her jump.

'Who is it?' she whispered back and crawled to the source of the other voice.

'It is me, Dwalin.' Basil almost cried of relief as she heard that Dwalin was with her. She was scared and horrified, but with Dwalin at her side, the situation seemed less hopeless, at least Basil told herself that.

'Where are we?' Basil asked. From what she could feel below her hands, hers and Dwalin´s cell were separated through a thin wall with small holes, through which Dwalin was speaking.

'I do not know.' Dwalin sounded weary. 'This is not Mirkwood, there is too much stone and I have the feeling that the air in here is better than in that cursed forest.'

Not Mirkwood. Basil worried deeply, not only for Dwalin and herself, but also for the escort.

'Are you alright?' Dwalin asked through the wall, his voice thick with worry.

'I am fine, I am not hurt...not much that is.' Basil winced as she felt a thick bump on her head. 'Did you see what attacked us?'

'No, I was knocked out cold.' Dwalin grunted. 'It was a dark hooded figure, it looked like an orc, but it moved too graceful.'

'Then you saw more than I have.' Basil sighed.

A loud shriek made them both gasp and fall silent for a while.

'What will happen to us?' Basil asked, although she knew that Dwalin could not know more than her.

'If they wanted us dead, we would be.' Dwalin grumbled and Basil could hear how the captain of Erebor´s guard hit against the bars of his cell.

'Have you figured out a way to escape, yet?' Basil asked and continued to explore her cell with her hands.

'You are the burglar.' Dwalin muttered, but Basil could hear the humor in his voice. 'I will never forget the look on Thorin´s face when you got us out of these cursed cells in Mirkwood.'

Basil felt a cold fist close around her heart as she thought about Thorin. He had forseen that someone would try to get to her, but she had not listened.

'It will not be so easy this time.'

The cold female voice startled Basil and Dwalin and they immediately looked up to find the person belonging to the voice. But there was nobody there.

'Who is it?' Basil asked and crawled back to the wall of her cell. 'Why are you doing this?'

'So many questions.' the voice snarled, dripping with hatred.

'Show yourself, you coward.' Dwalin growled and glared into the darkness.

'Who are you calling coward, dwarf?' the voice hissed and the way it pronounced the word „dwarf" seemed familiar to Dwalin, but he could not put a finger on it.

'Please.' Basil crawled towards the bars and grabbed them. 'We have done nothing to you, why are we here?'

'You have done nothing to me?' the voice hissed painfully and Basil felt a cold breeze brushing her face. 'It is not what you have done to me, halfling. It is what your people have done.'

'The hobbits?' Basil did not understand.

'No, you imbecile!' the voice snarled. 'You are the queen of the dwarves.'

'What have the dwarves done to you?' Basil asked. 'My...people have done nothing but survive during the last years.'

It gave Basil new strength to speak about the dwarves as her people. But she was curious and wanted to know who this person was who had killed her escort as well as the elves and had taken her and Dwalin prisoner.

'Dwarves...' the disgust in the female´s voice was obvious. 'Dwarves care for nobody else than themselves. They are ignorant, cold and care for nothing more than their riches. You should know best, queen of Erebor.'

'What are you talking about?' Basil knew of course what the female was talking about, but she needed to know more.

'You know what I am talking about, halfling.' the voice sneered. 'Do not try to fool me, you are bright enough to see the truth. Your precious king is weak and mad. Right now, as we speak, he falls for his precious gold again and there in nothing you can do about it. A shame that I did not see what he has done to you the last time he stood under the gold´s influence. But this time I will be there and watch. I will watch how Thorin, son of Thrain, will fail, once and for all. I will watch when he stands by his nephews grave´s and cry like a mere dwarfling over Kili's bones. I will watch when he will become so mad, that not even your beautiful face will be enough to cure him.'

'So you will let me go?' Basil asked and could not ban the hopeful tone in her voice.

'I will let you go when I deem the time right.' the voice told her. 'Tell me, queen under the mountain – did the king give you something to remind you of your task? A small token. Something that reminds you that he is waiting for you in your home? Nothing? How sad...'

The presence laughed bitterly and Basil grew even more irritated by the change of topic.

'I need no token to remember my task nor my love.' Basil stated determinately.

'Oh really?' the bitter laugh turned shrill. 'And the beads in your hair? The king already marked you, obsessive as the dwaren culture is. You are nothing more than a token to him, a shining jewel, a beautiful thing. I had one of these tokens once. But I gave it away. It was never mine to keep.'

'You had a dwarfen token?' Basil´s curiosity grew. 'How did you come by this?'

But the presence did not answer her this time. Quiet steps echoed through the darkness and soon, Dwalin and Basil were alone again.

'Do you know who she is?' Basil asked Dwalin, who only grunted in response.

'I have no idea lass...the information she gave us was more than thin.' Dwalin sighed. 'I cannot help myself though, she does seem familiar.'

Both grew silent once again. Dwalin was trying to remember anything helpful about their past, something that could indicate who their capturer was. Basil wrapped her arms around her knees and tried to replay the past moments in her mind. The female´s voice had been hard and cold, full of emotions – negative emotions. Sadness, bitterness, loneliness and worst of all grief had sounded in that voice. The female had sounded like a broken person.

Basil jumped as the bars to her cell swung open, but quickly crawled to the back as two orcs appeared, carrying torches and something that looked like food in a bowl. From the other cell, she could hear Dwalin curse and fight. A pained grunt told her that Dwalin was losing the battle.

'Eat, halfling.' the orc holding the food snarled at her and tossed the food onto the floor. 'That is all you will get.'

'Dwalin...' Basil realised that it had become silent in the neighbouring cell.

'The dwarf is alive. But not for long if he continues to resist the guards. Interesting - he did not fight the Mirkwood elves that much.' the female voice sounded from far away. The orcs bowed their heads and retreated back into darkness. From her cell, Basil could see a dark shadow in front of her cell and a quick flash of red in the dark before she was left alone again.

**Sorry, this one is a little short...do you have any idea who the female might be? ;) I tried to give some clues without giving too much away...**


	20. Chapter 20

Basil had no idea how much time had passed since they had been abducted. Dwalin was awake again if his low grunts and loud breaths were any indication. Basil had not touched her food, it was a bowl full of nasty porrige and a few pieces of dried meat. She was thirsty, but there was no water but the few drops which ran down her cell wall. She tried to sleep, but her mind did not get to rest, she had to find out who this female was.

A female. A broken female. A female who hated dwarves. The only people who hated dwarves were orcs and elves, but no elf would turn against their own people. Basil thought about the dead Mirkwood escort. It had to be orcs, but were there even female orcs?

'Dwalin?' Basil whispered against the shared wall. ‚Dwalin? Are you still with me?'

'I ain´t goin nowhere.' Dwalin mumbled after a while and Basil had the feeling that she had woken him up.

'How can you even sleep in such a situation?' Basil asked and almost wished that she would be able to close her eyes in peace for only a short moment.

'Not my first time in a cell, your majesty.' Dwalin grunted and Basil rolled her eyes.

'Azog hated Thorin, correct? More than anything.' Basil asked Dwalin who snarled.

'That pale scum hated the line of Durin. He almost wipped them out by killing the lads.' Dwalin sighed as he remembered the deaths of Fili and Kili.

'He had a son.' Basil remembered the huge orc who had knocked her unconscious before she had gotten to Thorin´s side during battle. 'Did he also have a daughter?'

Dwalin seemed to be stunned, according to the silence in the other cell. It took a while for him to answer.

'A daughter? A female orc? Is this what you are thinking?' Dwalin nodded in the dark. 'I have seen one or two female orcs before, but they are rare, even more rare than female dwarves. But this female is different. She has high fighting skills and she is bright and clever. She uses our weaknesses against us. No orc would do that. Even Azog was not clever enough to even think of more than brutal slaughter in battle.'

Basil gasped as she heard voices and steps; she did not have much time to crawl back into her cell as two pairs of filthy claws grabbed her. The two orcs snarled as Basil resisted and one of them even swung a punch at her.

'Enough!' the females voice echoed through the dark. 'She wants answers, she will come.'

Basil stopped to struggle and the orcs backed immediately, but they did not let her go.

'Bring the halfling to the higher level.' the female ordered. 'And get the dwarf to shut up!'

Basil began to struggle anew as she saw two shadows walk to Dwalin´s cell. 'Dwalin, do not fight, they will not do nothing to me!' she shouted, but she could her fighting noises.

'It is futile, halfling.' the female sneered. 'Dwarves are barbaric and stubborn creatures, he will not listen to you. His loyalty is remarkable, though.'

A nasty laugh made Basil flinch as she was dragged away from the prison cells. After they had passed several corners and had climbed several stairs, she could finally see in the dark. Several torches were lit and their light gave the cave a mysterical, but also threatening, look. The orcs pushed Basil forward into the middle of the dark room and Basil landed on her knees. Hissing in pain, Basil turned around, but the orcs were already retreating with fearsome looks in their faces. They were looking into the dark and Basil knew that the female had to be here somewhere. Apparently, she was running a very fierce and terrible reign.

'Welcome to my humble home.' a tall shadow emerged from the darkness. 'I apologise that it is not as comfortable as a mountain or the Shire, but it is all I have left.'

'Who are you? And where am I?' Basil asked and eyed the shadow carefully. It did move too graceful for an orc.

'What does it matter to you who I am?' the shadow sneered. 'I am nobody, I am of no importance to you.'

'I want to know who killed my guard and the elves and I want to know who abducted me!' Basil snarled and felt newfound courage. This person was playing with her and threatened her family and she would not stand by and do nothing.

'Such courage in such a small little thing.' the shadow walked closer and Basil could see the light of the torches reflect on her skin. It was an orc, her skin was dark and leathery. But instead of crouching, the female orc almost walked proudly. Her back was only little twisted and her legs slightly bended. Her long arms were strong and stringy and her hands appeared normal, even if her nails were almost claws. But her face remained in the shadow, the only thing Basil could see was her long reddish hair. Basil hoped that the hair´s color was originally red and that it was not colored with the blood of her guards.

'How did you do it?' Basil sat up, but she did not dare to stand up. She had not eaten properly for days and she needed to save her strength to flee.

'How did I do what?' the female sneered.

'How did you get all the gold into Thorin´s reach?' Basil wanted to know. 'I know that it was you. You were looming over us over weeks. How did you get into the mountain? How did you get into our rooms?'

'Ah…that.' the female grinned and showed ugly yellow teeth. 'I have to admit that it was not easy. Your dwarf king always felt my presence, but apparently he thought that I was a product of his phantasy – his madness. I placed some of the items myself at night, but many of the men of Dale, as well as your loyal subjects were very helpful. It only took me a little bit of….persuasion with most of them. Some were superstitious and believed me to be a powerful magical creature, others feared me and did as I said. Some needed to be reminded of the welfare of their families. It was really too easy. The Lonely Mountain may have been a secure home to the dwarves before the dragon came, but now it is open to all who wish to enter. There are cracks everywhere and the dwarves are too arrogant to secure all of them. They think that they have won the battle and have been victorious over their enemies, but they will never defeat me.'

Basil gasped as she looked into wide yellow eyes full of anger and hatred. The female orc´s face must had been beautiful once, but now the high cheek bones and the nicely shaped lips were distorted and scars covered the cheeks below her eyes. It looked as if she had scratched her own face bloody over and over again.

'Yes, look at me, halfling queen.' the orc sneered. 'I was beautiful once, princes laid out their heart to my feet. Now, I have nothing left, only memory.'

'You were not always an orc?' Basil asked carefully.

'You know nothing.' the female orc snarled. 'Orcs are not bred, they are made.'

'Azog had a son.' Basil injected.

'Azog raped a woman of men in one of his raids.' the orc hissed. 'He kept her for many moons, raping her again and again until she was pregnant. His filthy son killed her as he ripped his way out of her.'

Basil swallowed harshly and tried to stay calm, she did not have all the information she wanted, yet.

'And who have you been before?' Basil looked at the orc closely. She had pointed ears under her dirty red haid. 'Were you an elf?'

'Every orc was an elf once.' the female orc sounded sad all of a sudden. 'The first orcs were elves, captured by Melkor and tortured until nothing but a broken shell remained. Hatred, grief, shame and fury were the only emotions left and soon, nothing was left of the former beautiful elvish souls.'

'But there are thousands of orcs, how could there be so many?' Basil whispered in shock. She had many books in her study, but none of them had ever informed her about how orcs had become the worst enemy of the free folk of Middle Earth.

'Some indeed breeded, but their little ones always killed their mothers during birth. Some even say that after their torture, the females were no females anymore and turned into sexless creatures. Most of….us….were born out of torture.'

'What happened to you?' Basil did not want to feel any sympathy for the creature who threatened her life and tried to destroy her husband, but she could not help it.

'I was broken.' the female used Basil´s words from before. 'By dwarves first, by orcs after.'

And with that, the female turned around and grabbed Basil´s collar to drag her back. Basil tried very hard to not choke, but the iron grip only made her tumble after her capturer. Her lips were blue and she was coughing as she was thrown back into her cell.

'Enough questions, your highness.' the female orc sneered. 'You will rot here until I deem it right to honor you with my presence again.'

The last thing Basil heard before she blacked out was the shattering of the cell bars into the lock and Dwalin' s whisper in the dark.

'Tauriel.'

**Most of you got it right! Very Good :)**


End file.
